The recent controversy over comments made by the bishop of Mostar-Duvno, where Medjugorje is located, leads me to ask:

1. Why doesn't the Code of Canon Law prohibit the publication of material about new apparitions, devotions, miracles, prophecies and revelations?
2. Why does the Vatican deny it can speak authoritively on such matters when it has clearly done so in the past, for example with Fatima and Lourdes?
3. Why does the Vatican permit pilgrimages and tours, even with priests to supply the pastoral needs of the faithful, to sites associated with apparitions, miracles and revelations which have not been authenticated?
4. Why do Catholics regard the authority of prophets and visionaries as greater than bishops, who are the shepherds of the Church and successors of the apostles to whom Christ said 'He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me, and he who rejects me rejects him who sent me'?
5. Why do Catholics regard apparitions and private revelations as greater than Scripture and Tradition? St. Ignatius of Loyola writes that "We should put away completely our own opinion and keep our minds ready and eager to give our entire obedience to our holy Mother the hierarchical Church, Christ our Lord's undoubted Spouse." For "linking Christ our Lord the Bridegroom and His Bride the Church, there is but one and the same Spirit, ruling and guiding us for our soul's good."
6. Why do those associated with private revelations and apparitions turn them into multi-million dollar businesses and live in luxury, when Christ himself demanded a spirit of detachment from wordly goods, at least for those who would be more perfect in the kingdom of God?
7. Why do modern apparitions and private revelations not continue in the tradition of those which the Church has recognised? For example, those who have received apparitions or revelations in the past have always deferred decisions on their authenticity to the Church before proceeding to make them known. To those who claim modern apparitions are merely adapted to the times, let me remind you that we should follow the Holy Ghost not the zeitgeist.