Tomislav Vlašić

Čapljina

Vlašić was ordained a Franciscan priest in the former Yugoslavia in 1969, and became the associate pastor of a parish in Čapljina. In 1976 Vlašić had an affair with a Franciscan nun, Sr. Rufina, in violation of Canon 132 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law. When Rufina became pregnant, Vlasic sent her to Germany and urged her to keep his paternity a secret. She gave birth to their son in 1977. Her letters to Vlašić fell into the hands of her landlord, who sent them to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, a personal friend of his, at the Holy See.

In 1981 Vlašić went to Rome to participate in an international meeting of the Charismatic movement. There he was told by Sr. Briege McKenna, in an alleged prophecy, that he would become the center of a great movement with the help of the Virgin Mary. When reports of Marian apparitions emerged from the village of Medjugorje that same year, Vlašić left his assignment at Čapljina for Medjugorje without the permission of the local bishop, in violation of Canon 127.

Medjugorje

Vlašić immediately involved himself in the alleged Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Medjugorje, presenting himself as the spiritual director of the visionaries. He maintained a handwritten chronicle of the alleged apparitions and the messages arising from them. Also, he substituted for the pastor of the parish, Fr. Jozo Zovko, when the latter was jailed by Communist authorities.

Vitina

In 1984, Vlašić was transferred to a parish in Vitina. He wrote to a friend in the Vatican the following year, complaining about the bishop of Mostar, “It would be necessary to get all the others involved (intellectuals, theologians, bishops, cardinals...). We have to admit that Satan can also work through the structures of the Church.”

Italy

Vlašić left Vitina in 1987 to go to northern Italy with German laywoman Agnes Heupel, to found, with the help of the visionary Marija Pavlovic, a mixed-sex association inspired by the apparitions of Medjugorje, with the name Kraljice mira, potpuno smo tvoji. Po Mariji k Isusu ("Queen of Peace, we are all yours: to Jesus through Mary").

On July 11, 1988, Pavlovic wrote a statement withdrawing a previous claim of divine approval for the community, stating "before God, before the Madonna and the Church of Jesus Christ. Everything that can be understood as a confirmation or approval of this Work of Fr. Tomislav and Agnes Heupel, on the part of the Madonna through me, absolutely does not correspond to the truth and furthermore the idea that I had a spontaneous desire to write down this testimony is also not true."

That same year, the bishop of Parma ordered the association to close. However, Vlašić founded houses of the association in four other dioceses, including at Medjugorje, with the help of laywoman Stefania Caterina. Caterina became the deputy head of the association.

Laicization

In 2008, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) informed Vlašić that he was under investigation "for the diffusion of dubious doctrine, manipulation of consciences, suspected mysticism, disobedience towards legitimately issued orders" and charges of sexual misconduct ("contra sextum") and ordered him to stay at a Franciscan monastery in Lombardy, take a course of theological and spiritual formation, not have contact with the "Queen of Peace..." association, not get involved in juridical contracts or acts of administration, and not engage in preaching, spiritual direction, public statements, or performing the sacrament of confession, under pain of incurring the penalty of automatic interdict. In May 2008, CDF informed Bishop Ratko Perić of Mostar that Vlašić had incurred the penalty of automatic interdict. Father Tomislav Vlasic was subsequently laicised by Pope Benedict XVI.

Central Nucleus

On February 11, 2012, Caterina and Vlašić made a video about Central Nucleus, a New Age movement that combines private revelation and Catholic theology with pseudoscience and astrology. Caterina stated that she and Vlašić joined the movement in 2002. New Age and astrology are forbidden by the Catholic Church.