Along similar lines, consider the following. During the Second World War,
after being tortured in unbelievable ways, Serbs were often thrown half-dead
into mountain crevasses, where they died slowly. After the Second World War
these crevasses were cemented over, as if thereby the past could be
forgotten. In the mid-1960s, the Catholic Church made an area less than ten
miles away, called Medjugorje, one of its holiest shrines. So both with
Medjugorje and with Filipovic's monastery, we see the leaders of the
Catholic church, instead of begging forgiveness for horrible crimes,
conducted by priests in the name of the Church, creating places of holy
significance.
One thing that many fail to understand when evaluating the RCC is that she has to be understood in two respects - as a religion, but also as a political organization with it's own objectives. Sadly, the former (the spiritual/religious aspect) is often put to the service of the latter (which explains the growth of "papalism" in RC ecclessiology).
One of the things which disheartened me with the RCC, and helped (though it wasn't my primary reason) move me towards Orthodoxy, was the way the "Vatican machine" operated. The Vatican as of this time (and many other periods in the past) is profoundly corrupt, fighting not only with outside powers, but even within itself (various political factions, even masonic style secret societies...like the notorious Vatican Masonic Lodge "P2" or the competing, ultra-right wing, neo-fascist "Opus Dei"). Whenever you see John Paul II do something, or say something, keep in mind what you're getting...
i) his own thoughts, wishes
ii) accomodating to the machinations of various Vatican political/ideological factions
iii) a whole lot of pragmaticism all round
This is why, on one hand, the Vatican will play the "peace and love" card in many of it's public activities, to the point of even being syncretisitic (which is why the traditionalist movement outside of the official walls of the RCC began...with the likes of Archbishop Lefebvre, SSPX, etc.) However, quietly, if there is ever an opening, the Vatican will still resort to old school, iron fist tactics. For example, though the Vatican has sworn off the "Unia" as a viable option for "re-union" between the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches (such as in official documents like the Balamand agreement), it is quite obvious that it quietly still supports (but morally and financially) Unia activities, such as those in the Ukraine. I would also bet, were some freak circumstance to arise any time soon allowing for a "Unia" style agreement to pan out (say, if the EP gets super delusional, and is promised to become "second in command" of the Pope's church, so decides to sign some kind of Florence style Unia agreement), and it would syphon enough Orthodox off, the Vatican would be all for it... ecumeni-speak aside.
Such religious comprimise (Vatican ecumenism, even interreligious activities with non-Christians) shows the primary interest of the Vatican right now is not even religious domination (making everyone a dogmatic, conservative Roman Catholic in belief), but rather control itself, plain and simple. Mixed in with this, of course, are varying ideological understandings of what this world wide control will pan out into (utopianism of JP II, shady power dreams of P2 types, etc.)
Seraphim