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Father Slavko, famed Medjugorje priest, dies suddenly while leading group in prayer on Mount Kricevac
by Michael H. Brown
@copyright spiritdaily.com
Father Slavko Barbaric, 54, a Croatian priest who has been stationed at Medjugorje in former Yugoslavia since the early days of apparitions there, died suddenly Friday while leading parishioners and pilgrims up Mount Krizevac, where they were praying Stations of the Cross.
Known around the world by millions who have ventured to the apparition site -- and who have heard him at countless conferences and church gatherings -- Father Slavko was a brilliant Franciscan who fully believed in the phenomena reported at Medjugorje and served as a spiritual counselor to the seers.
Initial reports are that he suffered a heart attack. According to Sister Margaret Sims of the Marian Messengers in Framingham, Massachusetts, Father Slavko sat on a rock and was unresponsive when those accompanying him went to summon him.
It's not yet clear exactly where his death occurred. A source in Medjugorje,
tour guide Zeljka Rozic, said the priest was carried down the 1,760-foot mountain and was
dead by the time they got to the church of St. James in the village itself.
"Upon reaching the top of Mt. Krizevac the sun came out and the rain
stopped," says a report from Denis Nolan, an American who is active in
Medjugorje. "A beautiful rainbow in the distance near the Church could be seen.
As they started to descend, at about 3:50 p.m. local time, in front of, 'The
Resurrection' station, Father Slavko slipped and fell. He suffered a heart attack and died instantly. Fr. Svet accompanied his body down the mountain,
along with the medical team that had been summoned."
Fr. Slavko was born March 11, 1946 in
Dragicini, Bosnia-Hercegovina. A member of the Hercegovina Franciscan Province, he had joined St. James
Parish in Medjugorje in 1982. Often in the early mornings he could be found in prayer on Mt.
Krizevac.
Details remain sketchy. But the grief has been immediate. "He was really like the adviser to the visionaries," said Sister Sims, who started the first Medjugorje peace center in the U.S. "Ivan (one of the seers) is very upset."
The same was said of other seers such as Mirjana Soldo, described Friday as "devastated."
The priest often stressed the tranquility that the Blessed Mother brings and while advising pilgrims not to focus too much on chastisements, warned that abortion is an "all-out war."
"Her message -- calling us to faith, peace, prayer, penance, reconciliation, fasting, and conversion -- is meant to bring all her children in the world back to her Son Jesus," he once told a writer.
The irony of dying on Mount Krizevac (which means "Cross Mountain") is significant. The mountain, just south of Medjugorje, has a large cross on top and has been the focus of phenomena, including reports that the cross spins and at times disappears. Legend has it that the cross was built after Pope Pius XI had an inspired dream and told another Croatian priest, Father Bernardin ("Brno") Smoljan, to build a cross "on the highest Golgotha in Hercegovina."
While we can't confirm that particular legend, a cross was erected in 1933 as peasant villagers hauled up buckets of sand and water. It was set on a rostrum overlooking the village as a protection against severe hailstorms.
The Virgin has been reported in the area since 1981 and even Protestant and Jewish visitors have offered testimony to the presence of the Holy Spirit. While it is not yet approved by the Church, the Vatican allows unofficial pilgrimages and Father Slavko coordinated many of them. He will be missed by all.