Since June 24–25, 1981, the eve and feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, when six children in a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina first reported seeing and receiving messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary, more than 40 million pilgrims from around the world have flocked to the small village named Medjugorje. Pilgrims attend Read more
The Vatican has approved pilgrimages to Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina, a significant site of alleged Marian apparitions, but has stopped short of declaring the visions authentic. By issuing a decree of nihil obstat (literally “nothing stands in the way”), the Holy See “authorises prudent adherence” to the messages of Medjugorje but has not formally recognised the Read more
A widespread and bizarre controversy in Italy has finally come to an end after the Vatican announced that a notorious Marian statue that allegedly shed tears of blood was deemed to be false. The story is a fantastical tale that has captivated the Italian imagination for over a year. It involves fraud charges, an apparent Read more
Tomislav Vlasic, a former Croatian Franciscan priest and Medjugorje spiritual advisor, has been excommunicated from the Catholic church. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) announced on 23 October they were throwing him out of the church. In 2009 Vlasic was accused of teaching false doctrine, manipulating consciences, disobeying ecclesiastical authority, and of Read more
The Papal envoy to Medjugorje, Archbishop Henryk Hoser, says the Medjugorje message (allegedly delivered by Our Lady) can be “put at the same level as those delivered in Lourdes and Fatima.” “With regard to the international phenomenology, they are very similar,” Hoser says. “These [Lourdes, Fatima and Medjugorje] are certainly the three greatest pilgrimage sites. Read more
The controversial Medjugorje apparitions are again in the spotlight. The local bishop has made it plain he does not believe the apparitions are of Our Lady, while an apostolic visitor has been appointed to oversee the pastoral needs at the site. Medjugorje has become a place of pilgrimage since six children claimed to have seen Read more
A Polish archbishop, Henryk Hoser, who has been studying the pastoral situation in Medjugorje, says it is in good heart. He also says he thinks the apparitions of Our Lady which appeared in the town in 1981 might be recognised by the Vatican later this year Although he expressed an opinion about the Vatican’s likely Read more
If the Catholic Church recognizes as “worthy of belief” only the initial alleged apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje, it would be the first time the church distinguished between phases of a single event, but it also would acknowledge that human beings and a host of complicating factors are involved, said a theological expert in Mariology. Read more
Only some of the Medjugorje apparitions are likely to be authentic, Pope Francis said during an in-flight interview after canonising Saints Jacinta and Francisco last weekend. He was referring to alleged apparitions of Our Lady who is said to have appeared 35 years ago to six children in Medjugorje. Since then, three of the “children” Read more
The Medjugorje apparitions of Our Lady of Peace are being manufactured, a website post from the local bishop says. Bishop Ratko Peri’s post comes hard on the heels of Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser’s visit to Medjugorje. Hoser is in Medjugorje for Pope Francis to acquire “a deeper knowledge of the pastoral situation there, and, above Read more