Medjugorje: Ecclesiastical Conflict, Theological Controversy, Ethnic Division
The Medjugorje visions have attracted worldwide attention since they began in the early 1980s. According to local statistics, the number of pilgrims going to Medjugorje already rivals those visiting the Marian shrines at Fatima and Lourdes. Far from being just one more visionary event, the Medjugorj...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
1999
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| In: |
Research in the social scientific study of religion
Year: 1999, Volume: 10, Pages: 137-170 |
| Further subjects: | B
History of religion studies
B Social sciences B Religionswissenschaften B Religion & Gesellschaft |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | The Medjugorje visions have attracted worldwide attention since they began in the early 1980s. According to local statistics, the number of pilgrims going to Medjugorje already rivals those visiting the Marian shrines at Fatima and Lourdes. Far from being just one more visionary event, the Medjugorje apparitions combine a number of characteristics typically found in this type of events with another highly unusual set of features which seem to be unique to this particular case. Both the usual and the unusual characteristics of the Medjugorje case are discussed in this paper, as are the historical and the highly charged political backgrounds against which these events are taking place. The ecclesiastical tensions and theological discrepancies to which the apparitions have given rise are also analyzed in an attempt to establish the effect and significance of the visions in the unique religious and sociopolitical contexts of present day Bosnia-Herzegovina. The paper concludes with some methodological observations about the scientific approach to Marian apparitional events. Some evidence is provided to show that the current approach to these events on the part of the social sciences is inadequate, and a proposal is made for the development of new conceptual tools. |
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| Contains: | Enthalten in: Research in the social scientific study of religion
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/9789004496224_011 |