Jozo Zovko

Zovko is currently under a suspension imposed on him by his bishops in 1989, 1994 and 2004 for disobedience and is forbidden to perform priestly duties in his home Diocese of Mostar-Duvno.

During the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje in 1981, he was the parish priest of the St. James Church and became the first supporter and mentor of the visionaries.

It is claimed by the visionaries of Our Lady of Medjugorje, that the Virgin gave them a vision of Zovko while in prison in October 1981.

The Bishop revoked his priestly jurisdiction because of disobedience and his activity in Medjugorje, a decree soon afterward confirmed by Rome in 1989.

Jozo Zovko was born March 1941 in Uzarići, Herzegovina and attended and finished elementary school in nearby Široki Brijeg.

[2] He was known to his colleagues to practice special devotions to the Madonna and often participated in catechetical summer schools as a lecturer and discussant of charismatic orientation.

[4] On 25 June 1981, the day of the first alleged Virgin Mary apparition occurred, he was away from Medjugorje in Zagreb officiating at a meeting of Franciscan nuns.

[5][citation needed] When he arrived back to Medjugorje he was surprised to see the church surrounded by a large crowd along with their many vehicles including tractors, cars, trucks and donkey carts.

[5][citation needed] Zovko and his assistant, Father Čuvalo, were concerned because outside religious gatherings were forbidden in Yugoslavia and arrests could occur.

He noticed that the seers became agitated if anyone hinted that they were lying and he was taken by the fact that their physical descriptions of the Gospa were consistent with each other.

"[5][citation needed] On 29 June during the afternoon mass Zovko was giving a sermon at the same time the children were being interrogated by representatives of the communist regime of Yugoslavia.

Randall Sullivan wrote that it wasn't over and were driven to another town, Čitluk, to be examined by Dr. Ante Bijević who determined that each child was, "Normal, balanced, well-situated in time and in space, no hallucinations.

[10] Randall Sullivan wrote that Zovko was praying on his knees for direction in the St. James Church and all of a sudden he heard a voice clearly say, "Come out now and protect the children."

[13][citation needed] From the middle to the end of July 1981 both, the police and officials of the Communist League were demanding that the evening mass be discontinued.

[14][citation needed] Zovko refused to stop the evening mass and the children, in order to protect the church, started to gather outside on Podbrdo.

On August 11 Zovko was summoned to the Communist Party headquarters in Mostar to be given a final warning - to stop the people from meeting on Podbrdo.

Perica Vjekoslav wrote that the state prosecutor said that the false teachings allegation was interpreted as an "attack on the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, Marxism, and self-management socialism.

[14][citation needed] Paul Kengor wrote, that the communists, in their persecution, "also smashed up the church, broke and scattered religious articles and generally ransacked the parish.

[17] Zovko was appointed a guardian for the Franciscan friary in Široki Brijeg and did not perform any pastoral duties.

[17] After a five-year absence, Zovko made a surprise appearance in Medjugorje and spoke from the pulpit on 1 January 1990.

[14][citation needed] While Zovko said that the Bosnian War was a political rather than religious matter, he gave a sermon at Medjugorje where he stated that Mary is "...calling upon her people to pick up their swords put on their uniforms and stop the power of Satan.

"[19] According to Daniel Klimek, on 17 June 1992, Zovko met with John Paul II in Rome during the wars in former Yugoslavia and the pope said, "I give you my blessing.

On this tour, the director of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Boston, Walter Rossi, forbade Zovko to hold a mass there after receiving a letter from the bishop of Mostar, Ratko Perić.

He played Zovko in the drama film Gospa (Madonna), a 1995 Croatian movie directed by Jakov Sedlar.