Results Revealed of the Secret Vote of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on Medjugorje
On 6 August 2026, the Italian journalist David Murgia[1] published the results of the vote on the “Medjugorje phenomenon,” which had been submitted to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on 17 September 2016, ten years earlier. The same journalist previously published two reports on the Medjugorje phenomenon: Rapporto su Medjugorje, Il Segno di Giona, 2020, 104 pages, and Processo a Medjugorje, Rubbettino, 2021, 255 pages. Both books are cited several times in the monograph Virgin Most Prudent: On Medjugorje Out of Love for the Truth, Varaždinske Toplice, 2024.
When Joseph Ratzinger became Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977, he chose the motto Cooperatores Veritatis — “Co-workers in the Truth” (3 John 8), and retained the same motto later as Pope Benedict XVI. In 2009, he commissioned the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as required by its statutes, to establish and lead an International Commission that would investigate in the light of the truth, the Medjugorje phenomenon, which began in 1981. At the conclusion of its work, the Congregation, which since 1983[2] had been following and studying this phenomenon for decades, would evaluate the Commission’s conclusions and submit them to the Pope for judgment and a decision. Regarding this, the Holy See Press Office on 17 March 2010, published the following communiqué:
“Under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the presidency of Cardinal Camillo Ruini, an international commission of investigation on Medjugorje has been constituted. Said Commission, composed of cardinals, bishops and experts will work in a reserved manner, subjecting the results of their studies to the authority of the Dicastery[3].”
In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI abdicated, and Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected Pope.
From 1981 to 2015, more than 2,500 copies of various officially registered documents were sent from the Diocesan Chancery Office of Mostar to the competent Congregation. Most of these documents had already been published in one form or another[4]. Both of the diocesan bishops — the late Bishop Pavao Žanić, Coadjutor from 1971 to 1980, and then Ordinary from 1980 to 1993[5], as well as the retired Bishop Ratko Perić, (1993-2020) – made every effort, with the full responsibility of their office, to remain in constant contact with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Secretariat of State, and three Popes: John Paul II (1978–2005), canonized in 2014; Benedict XVI (2005–2013); and Francis (2013–2025).
Ruini’s Commission completed its work in 2014 and submitted the documents to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Pope Francis commented on its work in statements made on 6 June 2015, and 13 May 2017, reserving the entire matter to himself.
In 2024, the 1978 Norms Regarding the Manner of Proceeding in the Discernment of Presumed Apparitions and Revelations were repealed, and new Norms were issued.
To this day, the Holy See has not recognized the apparitions in Medjugorje as supernatural.
In his article, the journalist David Murgia expresses his own personal opinion on Medjugorje. He does not say how he obtained the Commission’s secret document, nor does he indicate how any individual member of the Congregation voted. However, he emphasizes that he will publish this information in due course because he promised to do so — especially because “I owe this to a person very dear to me, who recently died and to whom I made this promise,” Murgia concludes.
Just recently, on 16 June 2026, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, President of the International Commission of Inquiry on Medjugorje, passed away.[6]
A translation of the Italian text by the journalist and author David Murgia now follows:
Here Are the Vatican’s Secret Votes on Medjugorje
Of 33 opinions, 21 were opposed to its supernatural character, 9 were in favor, and 3 were undecided. For the first time, the results of the 2016 vote are being published, when cardinals and bishops were asked to express their views on the phenomenon of Our Lady’s apparitions.
There were 33 votes — or vota, that is, opinions — as many as the years of Christ’s life, concerning the “Medjugorje phenomenon,” which reached the Holy See on 17 September 2016. Significantly, this date coincided with the liturgical memorial of one of the greatest mystics and visionaries in the history of the Church, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, who was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church in 2012.
At that time, in 2016, Pope Francis occupied the Chair of Peter.
After receiving and reading the well-known Ruini Report — the final document of the International Commission, established at the request of Benedict XVI to study and evaluate the Medjugorje phenomenon, which I published (Rapporto su Medjugorje) — Pope Francis decided to refer the matter for consideration to the so-called Wednesday Assembly (Feria Quarta) of the then Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In addition to Ruini’s report, a critical document disputing the Commission’s conclusions was also examined, along with another text of replies to those objections.
The Feria Quarta is a regular session at which cardinals, archbishops, bishops, theologians and other experts — who are members of the Dicastery — gather to discuss and decide matters entrusted to them for consideration.
The “Medjugorje phenomenon” was precisely what appeared on the agenda.
The 33 Church dignitaries who took part in the proceedings were asked to submit their opinions in writing, on the nature of the phenomenon, together with their reasons.
The fundamental question they were required to answer was:
Can the events in Medjugorje be considered of supernatural origin, should they be considered non-supernatural, or are there still insufficient elements to reach a final judgment?
The participants were asked to answer this question — after explaining their position in writing — by using one of the three traditional Latin formulas:
- Medjugorje, constat de supernaturalitate — (Medjugorje is of supernatural origin).
- Medjugorje, constat de non supernaturalitate — (Medjugorje is not of supernatural origin).
- Medjugorje, non constat de supernaturalitate — (It is not yet possible to determine whether Medjugorje is of supernatural origin).
Below, FOR THE FIRST TIME, following thorough checks and multiple verifications of the data, I am publishing the total result of the 33 opinions (vota) submitted to the Holy See on 17 September 2016.
Total: 33 opinions (vota)
Of the 33 opinions:
- 21: Medjugorje, constat de non supernaturalitate — (Medjugorje is not of supernatural origin),
- 9: Medjugorje, constat de supernaturalitate — (Medjugorje is of supernatural origin),
- 3: Medjugorje, non constat de supernaturalitate — (It is not yet possible to determine whether Medjugorje is of supernatural origin).
The social and ecclesial significance of these results is clear: almost two-thirds of the opinions expressed were opposed to recognizing the supernatural character of the Medjugorje phenomenon.
This outcome is particularly significant when one considers that Ruini’s report — especially with regard to the first apparitions in 1981 — adopted a noticeably more open and favorable position, oriented toward the possibility that these events were of supernatural origin.
This document therefore makes it possible to understand better how the question of Medjugorje was — and to some extent still is — a matter that causes deep divisions within the Church.
I have said this many times, and I continue to maintain that: due to Medjugorje, the Church faced a very deep division, almost a schism.
On one side were those who believed that the phenomenon had no supernatural origin and called for decisive intervention, while on the other were those who held that at least part of the events that began in June 1981 deserved a different and more open assessment.
It is precisely in light of such a complex situation that the Vatican’s new Norms for proceeding in the discernment of presumed supernatural phenomena can also be understood, which was published by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith on 17 May 2024.
Through these Norms, the Church fundamentally changed its approach to this issue: the pastoral discernment of a phenomenon no longer necessarily has to end with a declaration that it is of supernatural origin.
This approach made it possible for the Medjugorje case to be examined differently: separating the assessment of the alleged supernatural events from the spiritual and pastoral fruits that have matured there.
In essence, this was the solution that made it possible to avoid an open conflict between the different sensitivities present within the Church.
Personally, despite everything, I still believe that what happened — and what is still happening in Medjugorje — although I do not necessarily regard every individual phenomenon attributed to it as credible, might represent an authentic sign of the Mystery.
I am publishing below a list of the 33 Church dignitaries who took part in this deliberation, together with the offices they held at the time.
In order to avoid unnecessary controversies, manipulation, or even an actual witch hunt, for the time being I will not indicate each person’s vote alongside their name.
I will publish that information in due course.
Without leaving anything out.
I promised to do so.
And above all, I owe this to a person very dear to me, who recently died and to whom I made this promise.
List of Participants in the Vote (Vota)
His Eminence Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Vatican City)
His Eminence Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna (Austria)
His Eminence Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, Archbishop of Bordeaux (France)
His Eminence Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Archbishop of Valencia (Spain)
His Eminence Cardinal Peter K. Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (Vatican City)
His Eminence Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio, President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts (Vatican City)
His Eminence Cardinal Ricardo Blázquez Pérez, Archbishop of Valladolid (Spain)
His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop of Milan (Italy)
His Eminence Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (Vatican City)
His Eminence Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Archbishop of Abuja (Nigeria)
His Eminence Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, former Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education
His Eminence Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington (United States)
His Eminence Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Archbishop of Naples (Italy)
His Eminence Cardinal George Alencherry, Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Church
His Excellency Archbishop Roland Minnerath, Archbishop of Dijon (France)
His Eminence Cardinal Fernando Filoni, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Vatican City)
His Eminence Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops (Vatican City)
His Eminence Cardinal Camillo Ruini, former president of the International Commission
His Eminence Cardinal Julián Herranz Casado, former member of the International Commission
His Eminence Cardinal Jozef Tomko, former member of the International Commission
His Eminence Cardinal Vinko Puljić, Metropolitan Archbishop of Vrhbosna, former member of the International Commission
His Eminence Cardinal Josip Bozanić, Archbishop of Zagreb, former member of the International Commission
His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Amato, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (Vatican City)
His Excellency Archbishop Rino Fisichella, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization (Vatican City)
His Excellency Archbishop Luis F. Ladaria, Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Vatican City)
His Excellency Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
His Excellency Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna, Archbishop of Malta
Msgr. Peter Smutelovič, former Undersecretary of the International Commission
Prof. Achim Schütz, former Secretary of the International Commission
Prof. David-Maria Jaeger, former member of the International Commission
Prof. Tony Anatrella, former member of the International Commission
Prof. Zdzisław Józef Kijas, former member of the International Commission
Prof. Salvatore M. Perrella, former member of the International Commission
Italian original, Croatian translation
[1] David Murgia, Italian Wikipedia, 7 August 2026.
[2] Ratko Perić, Djevice Premudra (Virgin Most Prudent), pp. 33–34.
[3] Holy See Press Office, 17 March 2010: Communiqué of the Holy See Press Office: International Commission of Inquiry on Medjugorje.
[4] Ratko Perić, Djevice Premudra (Virgin Most Prudent), pp. 240–246.
[5] See Bishop Žanić on Medjugorje: Truth Against Falsehoods, Mostar, 2021.
[6] David Murgia, Il mio addio a Camillo Ruini, 17 June 2026.