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FAMED SEER REVEALS 'SPECIAL BLESSING' FROM JOHN PAUL II, SAYS APPARITIONS ARE 'LAST'

A new book not yet available in North America in paper form by an Irishman named Finbar O'Leary documents that a seer from the famous site of apparitions at Medjugorje (Bosnia-Hercegovina) received a previously unpublicized document -- a "special blessing" -- from Pope John Paul II clearly indicating that Pontiff's predilection toward the reputed appearances of Mary.

The Special Blessing was sent by hand to visionary Vicka Ivanković and a second one to a priest, Father Jozo Zovko, who was pastor of St. James Church, the parish to which the seers belong, at the time of the first appearances. Father Jozo has long maintained that he was told by John to Paul to "protect" Medjugorje.

The Blessing reads: "Imparto di cuore una particolare Benedizione Apostolica a Vicka Ivanković ed invoco nuova effusione di grazie e favori celesti e la continua protezione della Beata Vergine Maria."

That translates as: "I warmly impart a special Apostolic Blessing to Vicka Ivanković and invoke new outpouring of graces and heavenly favors and the continued protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary." No date was on the document, which was signed personally.

At least three of the visionaries are known to have been in the presence of the Holy Father, in Vicka's case ten times.

But the existence of the Special Blessing has not been previously revealed. Vicka is widely regarded as the most mystical of the seers and is currently recovering from severe back problems caused when overly enthusiastic pilgrims apparently pulled her down stairs from which she often addresses the throngs.

"I remember especially a few times during the war, with the late Sister Josipa, taking up to thirty busloads of widows, orphans, and wounded people for a special audience in St. Peter's Basilica," the seer told O'Leary, who through the years developed a special relationship with the seer and her family. "He greeted us all in special way, hugging and kissing the orphan children. I stood at the altar introducing the groups from the different parishes of Bosnia and Hercegovina. We presented him with a gift from each of their churches, which had been destroyed in the fighting."

The Holy Father on numerous occasions encouraged bishops and cardinals to visit the site of apparitions. It is believed he sent Cardinal Josef Ratzinger there as an observer at least twice, and a photograph documents a meeting between the future Benedict XVI and a famous Medjugorje priest named Slavko Barbarić. (The meeting was at a restaurant in Linz.)

Personal letters [left] to friends in Poland, Zofia and Marek ("Z. M.") Skwarniccy, also attest not only to an interest but to John Paul II's devotion to Our Lady of Medjugorje. "I thank Sophia for everything concerning Medjugorje," wrote the late Pope. "I, too, go there every day as a pilgrim in my prayers: I unite in my prayers with all those who pray there or receive a calling for prayer from there. Today we have understood this call better. I rejoice that our time does not lack people of prayer and apostles."

In 1987 the Pontiff told a second seer, Mirjana Soldo, that if he were not Pope, he would have visited Medjugorje already. A Polish priest said that when flying east John Paul II was known to ask his pilot to fly over the village so he could bless it. He removed the authority of local Mostar bishops, who were negative toward the apparitions (and the Franciscans who operate the parish), to rule on the matter.

It is not known what Benedict XVI -- who convened a Vatican commission to study Medjugorje -- thought of the alleged apparitions, nor how Pope Francis will weigh the commission's report (though as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio the new Pope allowed Father Jozo as well as the seer Ivan Dragicević to speak in his archdiocese, personally blessing and befriending Father Jozo). Still, caution is urged until the Vatican officially issues guidance or a proclamation.

Vicka told O'Leary that John Paul II "encouraged us to continue spreading Our Lady's message and signed it in his own signature. The two blessings were brought for both of us, at the same time. The Holy Father's message to me was 'Thank you and may Our Lady continue to bless you and thank you for protecting Our Lady's message.'" Translations of the document itself seem to invoke the Blessed Mother's protection.

The book, entitled Vicka: Her Story, is in interview format and also covers the "secrets," confirming that one -- Vicka's seventh (she has received nine) -- was "reduced by half through prayer and sacrifice." There remain, however, others to do with chastisements. Vicka also confirmed, contrary to some reports, that the Blessed Mother indeed said "this is the last time she would appear in this way, and that she will not come in this form, again.

"I am just passing on Our Lady's words exactly as she said them," said the seer.