(ZENIT News – Porta Luz / Santiago, 04.07.2025).- The Marian apparitions of the end of the 20th century and early 21st century, which for years have occurred day after day, have been a challenge for science, with its modern diagnostic methods.
The initiative to conduct serious scientific research in Medjugorje was proposed by the French theologian Father René Laurentin, a scholar of Mariology and author of more than 20 books on the Lourdes apparitions and publications on other Marian apparitions. He first went to Medjugorje in 1983. As he himself admitted, he was initially skeptical and distrustful.
On December 24 of that year, in a small room off the sacristy, Father Laurentin observed the five visionaries in ecstasy. Mirjana no longer had daily apparitions. The visionaries began to pray, and suddenly fell to their knees at the same time. «Their faces shone with joy, and the way they expressed it suited their individual temperaments: Vicka (. . . ) smiled enthusiastically, Ivan was the more reserved, immersed in deep, personal contemplation. Eleven-year-old Jakov’s face was calm and focused, seeming to absorb what he was looking at» (Głos Pokoju» no. 1/2014, p. 21). The parish priest, Father Tomislav Pervan, approached Jakov, picked him up, shook him, and then sat him down on the ground. After the apparition, it turned out that Jakov had not noticed it at all. Laurentin did not observe any pathological symptoms: cataleptic cramps, tension, crying, neck twists. He was disconcerted by this vision of the young people praying, experiencing the apparition in such a positive and natural way, that he contacted Dr Ludwik Stopar, a psychiatrist and parapsychologist serving as an expert for the International Medical Commission of Lourdes. He stayed in Medjugorje for a total of four weeks and hypnotized the visionary Marija, declaring her total sincerity. He also ruled out the possibility that someone could manipulate such a diverse group from the outside.
Objective: Expose the Deception
Father Laurentin then approached Professor Henri Joyeux of the Montpellier Clinic, a surgeon and oncologist who researched the brain. He told him he was looking for impartial people, who were neither for nor against, in a word, objective and open scientists. Professor Joyeux invited a neurologist, an ophthalmologist, an otolaryngologist, and two internists to join the team. He went to Medjugorje clearly suspicious, believing his team would succeed in exposing the deception. The investigation was continuously covered by the French weekly «Paris Match.» In 1985, with great difficulty, the scientists transported specialized medical equipment across the Yugoslav border.
Their team, as well as the team of Italian doctors from the ARPA2 Association, who worked almost simultaneously with them, were independent of the Episcopal Commission and the Franciscans.
Although upon his arrival Professor Joyeux obtained permission from the parish priest to carry out the analysis, it turned out that the visionaries did not want to hear about detailed scientific research, which required them to be connected to modern devices during the apparition. René Laurentin recalled, «The visionaries […] changed their minds when they asked the Lady for her consent and when She gave it. Then they became as meek as lambs. Before, nothing could have changed the minds of these young people, who persisted in refusing to accept the research» (René Laurentin, It Is the Virgin Mary …, op. cit., p. 95).
A French interdisciplinary team monitored the visionaries before, during, and after the apparition. They underwent electroencephalography (EEG) and electrooculography (EOG). Eyeball movements were examined by computer, and also during the observation of the fundus of the eye no changes were detected that could cause hallucinations.
The research showed that the visionaries in ecstasy did not sleep, did not dream, did not have epilepsy, catalepsy, or any other abnormality. Clinical studies and observations ruled out hallucinations, hysteria, schizophrenia, hypnosis, or depression. EEG recordings showed alpha waves in ecstatic visionaries, that is, a state of receptive alertness: someone who listens and looks (for example, listening to music or contemplating a landscape). After the ecstasy, the visionaries easily returned to the usual alpha-beta rhythm of the brain, which characterizes the stage of transition from activity to reflection and from reflection to activity.
They also studied the synchronization of the subjects’ reactions in their ears, eyes, hearts, and brains. The simultaneity of the visionaries’ reactions during the apparition — they instantly fall to their knees, at the same time their voices become inaudible, then at the same time their voices are heard again — remains unexplained. The investigation ruled out manipulation or collusion on their part and demonstrated that the object of the perception was outside themselves.
The conclusions of the French team’s research were published in Henri Joyeux’s and René Laurentin’s work entitled «Medical and Scientific Studies on the Apparitions of Medjugorje.» Translated into several languages, it has been published in subsequent editions.
Reaction of Visionaies in Ecstasy to Tactile, Light, and Painful Stimuli
At the same time, in February, March, and December 1984, research was conducted by a team of Italian doctors. Dr. Maria Federica Magatti tested the reaction of visionaries in ecstasy to tactile, light, and painful stimuli. They did not react to any of them. No changes were observed in the pupil diameter under the influence of the 1000 W spotlight. One of the seers, Ivan, underwent a Holter electrocardiogram. Dr. Anna Maria Franchini, a member of the first medical team, stated: «This is a group in which each individual behaves in his/her own way, and where everyone’s attention is irresistibly focused on the external object, with an intensity I have never observed before» (Quoted in Olivio Cesca, Urgent Message from Medjugorje, op. cit., Page 14).
Dr. Giacomo Mattalia, head of the Italian team, said: «The ecstasies are not of a pathological nature, nor are they a delusion. Current scientific knowledge is not able to determine this phenomenon. Perhaps they should be defined as a state of intense prayer with total separation from the external world, a state of contemplation and of healthy and reasonable communication with a specific person whom only they are able to see, hear and touch» (Ibid., page 167).
In 1985, another team of Italian doctors arrived at Medjugorje under the direction of neurophysiologist Professor Marco Margnelli. They reached similar conclusions. Among other things, they conducted research on the cornea of the eye, which is so sensitive to stimuli. During ecstasy, the cornea was irritated with a nylon thread: the cornea reflex was absent, meaning that pain sensitivity was completely abolished. The visionaries were also examined with a lie detector. Professor Margnelli regarded the Medjugorje experiments a turning point in the study of ecstasies in general, and that they demonstrated that they were not a pathological condition in the clinical sense, as many scientists had previously believed. Margnelli himself, influenced by what he saw, embraced Christianity.
Ionization Processes During Ecstasy
From March 15 to 19, 1985, Professor Bogusław Lipiński, a nuclear physicist from Boston, conducted research in Medjugorje. He brought the Canadian Biotech BT 400 Electroscope, used for ionization measurements. The unit of measurement was mR/h (micro-roentgens per hour). In the parish church, at 11:00 a.m., it registered 20 million; at 5:00 p.m., this number increased to 1 billion, at 6:00 p.m. to 10 billion, and at 7:00 p.m., to 20 billion. In the chapel where the apparition took place, the device displayed the incredible figure of 100,000 billion units.
Professor Lipiński discovered the existence of strong ionization in the vicinity of the visionaries. He concluded that ionization processes are triggered by enormous energy near visionaries.
The results of Professor Lipiński’s research proved so interesting that in June 1986 a group of physicists equipped with much better equipment went to Medjugorje. Among them was Professor Paolo Ameglio of the Department of Nuclear Reactor Theory and Technology at the University of Genoa. Measurements of the ion concentration in the apparition room showed over 1,000 positive ions and 700 negative ones, although in a closed room measuring 4.5 by 5 meters, covered with thick carpeting and with blacked-out windows, the ion concentration should be a maximum of 150-250. Physicists have not been able to answer the question of the cause of this condition. Professor Lipiński wondered whether air ionization might not also be responsible, to some extent, for the exceptionally good mood of the pilgrims and for another phenomenon: at the moment of the apparition, the birds in the trees surrounding the church fell silent.
On January 14, 1986, in Paini, near Milan, a team of 17 eminent representatives of various scientific disciplines (medicine, psychiatry, biology, theology) met, among other things, to present the following conclusions about their work in Medjugorje:
- Based on the psychological examinations of the visionaries, fraud can certainly be ruled out in all of them together and individually.
- Based on medical examinations, tests, and clinical observations, (…) pathological hallucinations can be ruled out in all and each of the visionaries.
- Based on the results of the research (…), a purely natural explanation for these phenomena can be ruled out.
- Based on the information and observations that can be documented (…), it can be ruled out that these are paranormal phenomena, the influence of the devil.
- Based on the information and observations that can be documented, there is a correspondence between these phenomena and the phenomena generally described in mystical theology.
- On the basis of information and observations (…), one can speak of the spiritual development and the development of the theological and moral condition of the visionaries, from the beginning of these phenomena to the present day.
- On the basis of information and observations (…), it is possible to exclude the teachings or attitudes of the visionaries that would be in apparent conflict with Christian faith or morality.
- On the basis of documented information and observations, one can deduce good fruits among the population overwhelmed by the supernatural action of these phenomena.
- For more than four years, various currents and movements born in Medjugorje have been active. In accordance with the previous statements, they affect the People of God in the Church in perfect harmony with Christian teaching and morality.
- After more than four years, we can speak of lasting and positive fruits from the spiritual movements born in Medjugorje.
Excerpt from Dorota Szczerba’s book «The Secret of Medjugorje», published on the Polish Website Deon.
