“After 43 years, the time has come to put an end to the long and complex story of the spiritual phenomena of Medjugorje”, said Mgr Petar Palic, the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno – under whose jurisdiction Medjugorje is located – at a special press conference following the publication of the Note “Queen of Peace” by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. “Yesterday, I approved the Decree on Medjugorje – he added – that gives the Nihil obstat to, and promotes the dissemination of, this spiritual proposal, including possible pilgrimages”. According to the prelate, “in this whole story, as in every phenomenon, it is important to recognise what is good, positive and what can help the lives of believers”. “It is up to all of us who come to Medjugorje for different reasons – he said –, but above all for pious and spiritual reasons, to build ourselves up in true faith, to be inspired by the life of Mary, her humility, and her openness to God and His plans”. Mgr Palic recalled that “believers are not obliged to believe in this phenomenon because Jesus Christ is the fullness of Revelation”, and “everything God wanted to reveal, He did through his Son”. “We can only speculate if and when there will be a statement about the possible recognition of the apparitions”, he noted, adding that “this is a message to believers that we must set ourselves free from the pressure that something supernatural must always be shown to us in order to live our faith sincerely”. The Bishop of Mostar-Duvno pointed out that the apparitions in Medjugorje should be interpreted as “alleged messages” and “alleged phenomena”, and repeated the words of Cardinal Fernandez yesterday, that is, “if we were to analyse the entirety and integrity of the alleged messages, I don’t think we would make a decision in the next 43 years”. Mgr Palic recalled that “the Medjugorje phenomenon will continue to be monitored in its entirety”.