Louis Bélanger of Quebec is a man whose name may not be as well known among those considered to be experts on the subject of Medjugorje. But, it should be.
Let's step back a little. We have a phenomenon that has been going on for nearly 30 years now, currently under investigation by the Church through an international Commission that was announced on March 17, 2010.
If we set aside "fruits" and look at "events" (who, what, where, when, how), the evidence at the "flashpoint" of an event, or soon after, is always of greater interest to investigators than what comes later. Think about a crime scene: Early in the investigation, the evidence has greater purity because it is relatively undisturbed by other external elements and influences. With each hour or day that passes, there is a greater chance that things which are foreign to the initial event will get introduced and lead investigators on a wild goose chase.
When unsolved, or "cold-cases", are reopened many years later, investigators always go back to the original data before looking at anything more recent. Cold-cases are often solved when the passage of time sheds new light on old information. When they look at new information, it is often done in light of the old information. Therefore, it is worthy to have a grasp of what took place in that village early on. While some believe that the new commission will be looking exclusively at "good fruits", there are others like myself who believe that commission members will be looking at the events themselves, along with the fruits - both good and bad.
This is the beauty behind the work of Louis Bélanger, who has just launched a brand new website: "Medjupedia" ( [English], [French]) where he will be offering information collected from the early days and years of the Medjugorje events. He went there as a scientific researcher. He also teamed up with Fr. Ivo Sivrić, OFM - a native of Medjugorje, and Franciscan, who came to the United States and was interested in what was going on in his home village. Together, they produced what amounts to a textbook on Medjugorje. There are over 400 pages in The Hidden Side of Medjugorje, and about half of them are notes and appendices. Included in the appendices are full length transcripts of audio-taped interviews from the early days. Most books which are offered today merely cherry-picked from transcripts, curiously omitting certain things. Yet others modifed things that came from those same interviews, such as the infamous words about "doubting Judases". We can only wonder about the motivation behind such behavior.
In his first post at Medjupedia, Louis Bélanger introduces himself, his work, and that of Fr. Ivo Sivrić, OFM. He will be making more posts, perhaps going beyond what is in Volume 1, sharing and explaining what he learned through his scientific studies. Consider bookmarking the site and checking back for more posts.
As a sidenote, Fr. Sivrić, listed among the deceased OFM's at the Croatian Custody out of Chicago, passed away in October of 2002 at the age of 85. Requiescat in pace!
Once again, here are the links:
- Medjupedia in English
- Medjupedia in French (main site)
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The obedient are not held captive by Holy Mother Church; it is the disobedient who are held captive by the world!