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Medjugorje (, ) is a village in the municipality of Čitluk in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our Lady of Medjugorje, a purported series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, to six local children, Overview of Medjugorje Medjugorje.org, accessed 6 July 2020. which some people believe are still happening to this day.
The name Medjugorje literally means "between mountains". At an altitude of above sea level it has a mild Mediterranean climate. The town consists of an ethnically homogeneous Croat population of 2,306. The Catholic parish includes four neighbouring villages: Bijakovići, Vionica, Miletina and Šurmanci. Since 2019, pilgrimages to Medjugorje have been authorized by the Holy See as long as there is no assumption the events are confirmed to have a supernatural origin. Pope authorizes pilgrimages to Medjugorje 12 May 2019, accessed 6 July 2020. Vatican confirms Medjugorje approval by joining youth festival Jonathan Luxmoore Aug 7, 2019, accessed 6 July 2020. In September 2024, the Vatican formally endorsed "prudent devotion" to Mary at Medjugorje but made no declaration that the purported apparitions actually took place.
The Catholic parish of Sveti Jakov ("Saint James") was erected in 1892 by the Bishop of Mostar Paškal Buconjić. The twelve-metre tall crucifix on the mountain called Križevac (Cross Mountain), completing the parish's Stations of the Cross (križni put), was completed in 1934. Medjugorje, Description of the town at truepeace.com.au Medjugorje auf friedenskoenigin.de
In 1981 as soon as reports began of the Marian apparitions on Crnica hill in the Bijakovići hamlet, confrontations with Yugoslav state authorities began. Pilgrims were forbidden from coming, Ulrike Rudberg: Abends, wenn Maria kommt. Die Zeit, 26 June 1987. the pilgrim's donations were seized by the police and access to what was called the Apparition Hill was largely blocked. The parish priest of Medjugorje at that time, Father Jozo Zovko, was arrested and convicted of sedition. (2025). 9789004390294, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization). . ISBN 9789004390294 He refused to follow the orders from the Communist Party headquarters in Mostar: to stop the people from meeting on Podrodo and to stop the evening Mass.
In the last years before the 1992 breakup of Yugoslavia, travel of pilgrims was no longer hindered by the state.
On 2 April 1995, at the high point of conflict within the local diocese, Bishop Ratko Perić was kidnapped by Croat militiamen, beaten, and taken to a chapel run by one of the Franciscans associated with Medjugorje, where he was held hostage for ten hours. At the initiative of the mayor of Mostar, he was freed without bloodshed, with the help of the United Nations Protection Force. E. Michael Jones: The Ghosts of Surmanci, South Bend, Indiana), February 1998. Michael Sells: Crosses of Blood, Sociology of Religion, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, Herbst 2003.René Laurentin: Medjugorje Testament, Ave Maria Press, Toronto 1998; , cited by Craig L. Heimbichner
In 2017, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Praga (Warsaw) as a special envoy of the Holy See to Medjugorje, tasked with assessing its pastoral needs. By the end of 2017, Hoser had announced that the Vatican's position was in favor of organizing pilgrimages. Official pilgrimages to Medjugorje are being authorized, confirms Pope Francis’ envoy accessed 6 July 2020. In 2018, the Pope named Hoser as an apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, for "an undefined period and at nutum Sanctae Sedis" (at the disposal of the Holy See). The aim of this mission is "ensuring a stable and continuous accompaniment to the parish community of Medjugorje and to the faithful who go there as pilgrims, and whose needs require particular attention." News from Medjugorje 26 June 2020, accessed 6 July 2020.[21] Holy See Press Office Communiqué: Appointment of Special Apostolic Visitor for the parish of Medjugorje, 31.05.2018. In 2019, the Vatican officially authorized pilgrimages to Medjugorje as long as there is no assumption the events are confirmed to have a supernatural origin. The first Vatican-sanctioned pilgrimage then took place for five days from 2-6 August 2019. During the pilgrimage, approximately 60,000 young Catholics from 97 countries took part in the Medjugorje International Youth Festival. Fourteen archbishops and bishops and about 700 Catholic priests joined the festivities as well.
On 19 September 2024, the Holy See, with the blessing of Pope Francis, granted Medjugorje the status of 'Nulla Osta' (Nihil Obstat). This means that they encourage travel by believers and church pilgrimages to Medjugorje, but do not enter into the question of alleged Marian apparitions, and warn believers not to go to Medjugorje for 'alleged seers', but for the Queen of Peace, or in other words the Holy See offers its approval for devotion to the Queen of Peace and Medjugorje.
The Vatican's document stated that the ruling was made because “many positive fruits have been noted in the midst of a spiritual experience, while negative and dangerous effects have not spread among the People of God.”
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