Rome - Yugoslavian bishops said after several years of study there is no proof that Marian apparitions have occurred at Medjugorje.

       Their statement was drawn up at a meeting of Yugoslavian bishops in November and passed on to the Vatican for review.

       It was not made public by the bishops or the Vatican, but an Italian Catholic news agency published its translation of the communiqué Jan. 2. The contents were confirmed by Church sources in Yugoslavia. The sources said the statement was approved in a nearly unanimous vote, with 19 bishops in favor and one abstaining.

       In the statement drawn up Nov. 27-28, the bishops recalled that the alleged apparitions, which began in 1981-82, have been the focus of studies at the diocesan and national level for several years.

       A Vatican doctrinal official, said the bishops' cautionary statement against defining the apparitions as supernatural should be accepted by the faithful around the world.

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