The Madonna of Medjugorje: Religious Rivalry and the Formation of a Devotional Movement in Yugoslavia

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. This content downloaded from 141.Apparitions and pilgrimages have frequently been described in terms of rivalry, tension, and protest within the community of the faithful. Much less attention is paid to religious elites and their role in popular religion. This may be due in part to the nature of data sources, since many descriptions are historical reconstructions. The apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Medjugorje (Yugoslavia) and the subsequent devotional movement provide an opportunity to focus systematically on religious elites, because all the participants are still living. It is argued that the evolution of the Yugoslav devotion is a function of the changing power relations between two categories of religious elites in the area. Although primarily intended as a contemporary case study, the article invites a new look at similar events.[politics of religion, apparitions, pilgrimage, popular religion, Yugoslavia] The church is as much a political actor as the state . . . because it is itself a body subject to internal . . rivalry and the struggle over resources and policies (Ramet 1985b: 315)

Understanding Medjugorje: A Khaldunian Approach to a Marian Apparition

“…Sociologists -at least those writing up to the early 1990s -used the language of "pilgrimage", "religious organization", "religious competition", and "religious revitalization" (Mestrovic, 1991, pp. 136-162;Bax, 1990;Berryman, 2001).…”

Medjugorje yi Anlamak: Meryem Ana nın Görünmesi Hadisesine İbn Halduncu Bir Yaklaşım

“…Yurt dışından gelen Fransiskenler, daha önce geri kalmış olan bölgeye muazzam miktarda para getiren ziyaretler düzenlemeye başladı. Bunu fark eden yetkililer, geri çekildiler -ve nihayetinde kasabanın kenarında kendi turistik kompleklerini inşa ettiler (Bax, 1990(Bax, , s. 73, fn11). 1990'ların başına kadar bazen günde 100.000'den fazla olmak üzere tahminen on milyon hacı ziyaret etti (Markle & McCrea, 1994, s. 197) Baştan itibaren, araştırmacılar, genel olarak bu görüntülerin raporlarını dini fenomen olarak değerlendirdiler.…”

“…1980'lerde gazeteci, Vatikan dini müfettişleri ve diğerleriyle birlikte bölgeyi ziyaret eden milyonlarca hacı, "mucize", "karizma", "kehanet" ve "yenilenme" dilliyle görüntüleri şekillendirdiler. Sosyologlar -en azından 1990'ların başına kadar yazanlar-"hac", "dini organizasyon", "dini rekabet" ve "dinsel canlanma" dillini kullandılar (Mestrovic, 1991, s. 136-162;Bax, 1990;Berryman, 2001).…”

Accepting the post-colonial challenge: Theorizing a Khaldûnian approach to the Marian apparition at Medjugorje

“…The millions of pilgrims who visited the site in the 1980s, along with journalists, Vatican religious inspectors, and others framed the apparitions in a language of ''miracle'', ''charism'', ''prophecy'', and ''renewal.'' Sociologists, at least those writing up to the early 1990s, used the language of ''pilgrimage'', ''religious organization'', ''religious competition'', and ''religious revitalization'' (Bax, 1990;Berryman, 2001;Mestrovic, 1991: 136À162).…”