VATICAN CITY -  “Our Lady - I  would like to put aside any scholarly  theological  issue and focus on what my mother used to tell me, with great simplicity, when I was young before I went out: If  you pass in front of a statue of Our Lady, say hello to Her. She does love you”.
93 year old eminent Archbishop of  Ravenna – Cervia  Cardinal  Ersilio Tonini ( in the picture), one of the most authoritative members of the Holy College, who has always openly shown his great devotion to Our Lady , is overcome by emotion and his voice is starting to tremble. His pure and deep love for Our Lady, just like the love that a child has for his mother, started in the earliest years of his life.

Your Eminence, this year is the 150th anniversary of the apparitions in Lourdes, therefore talking about Our Lady is a must …

“Actually, the Virgin Mary  is the sweetest and the most simple-hearted creature in the world, the disciple par excellence, the All Blessed.
Note that Jesus entrusted each one of us to Her not only because She is His Mother and the Mother of the Church but also because She is the Mother of the whole mankind”.

Yet, guiltily, people today tend to underestimate, with a certain amount of snobbery, Our Lady’s apparitions.

“Whoever does, cannot in the least appreciate Mary’s greatness. She embraced the Cross, with absolute faith in and abandonment to God and She never gave in.
Mary stands for the sweetness as well as the optimism and the positiveness of Christ’s followers, since She is the one that meditates in the silence of her heart.
How different from certain chatterboxes of the present age who cannot even conceive of the beauty of Mary, the Woman who said yes, fully and unconditionally, to
Our Lord…”

As to Our Lady’s apparitions, specifically those in Medjugorje , the Vatican seems a bit sceptical, or, at least, extremely cautious about them.

“I must state beforehand that I have never been to that sanctuary and that I do not know much about it. However, I understand and justify the prudence of the Church, which necessarily has to be careful and wise about the above mentioned apparitions. Therefore there is nothing to object to the behaviour of the Holy See.
Now, with as much frankness, how do you account for  the great number of  conversions to Christianity in Medjugorje?

Cardinal Tonini, please tell us…

“Nobody and nothing can hold back sanctity. If millions of  pilgrims go to Medjugorje each year and if many of them change their lives it means that Medjugorje reveals the action of the Holy Spirit.  As to the cautiousness of the Church, I would like again to regard it as fair and natural. However, that does not in the least diminish the strong charisma of Medjugorje. After all, sanctity does not need any certificates…”

Therefore Medjugorje is not a figment of the six seers’ imagination but it reveals the action of the Holy Spirit….

The Gospels urge us to convert to Christianity, so if , thanks to Medjugorje, people do convert , why should you not appreciate that place? You know, the Church is waiting, and intends to watch the evolution of the situation, of the events. However, you should underline that the Church has never officially rejected Medjugorje.
To be precise, so far the Church has not openly said yes; however, it has neither said no”.

Your Eminence, can you define Mary as the Co- redemptrix of mankind?

The fact remains that She is the Mediatrix par excellence. However, I think She should also be defined as the Co-redentrix from the theological point of view, since She lived as a saint by following Christ and She actually did follow Her Son up to the Cross.
Somehow, the same life of Jesus would have been almost “incomplete” without the presence of Our Lady”.

Cardinal Tonini, who does Mary remind you of ?

“My mother. Please, write that Mary is the Mother of each one of us and that She is always willing to console us, to love us and to forgive us.
When we have a pain or a problem we run to meet our mother and she relieves us and consoles us.  In the same way Mary reassures us and alleviates our sufferings.
Let us look at Her with confidence and joy.