Vlašić was ordained a priest in the former Yugoslavia in 1969, as a member of the Franciscan order, and was assigned to be 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. Rufina's letters to Vlašić fell into the hands of her landlord, who sent them to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, a personal friend of the landlord. In 1981 Vlašić went to Rome to participate in an international meeting of the Charismatic movement. There he was told by Sr. Briege McKenna and Fr. Emiliano Tardif in a prophetic message that Vlašić 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 localbishop, 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.
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. We have to admit that Satan can also work through the structures of the Church.”
Italy
In 1987 Vlašić left Vitina to go to the diocese of Parma in northern Italy to found a mixed-sexassociation inspired by the apparitions of Medjugorje, together with German laywoman Agnes Heupel. The name of the community was Kraljice mira, potpuno smo tvoji. Po Mariji k Isusu. The visionary Marija Pavlovic issued a statement indicating divine approval for the community, but withdrew it on July 11, 1988. In her retraction, Pavlovic stated "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 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 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.
