Medjugorje Apparitions Await Vatican’s Recognition

Three decades after the reports on Virgin Mary apparitions in Medjugorje, the Vatican has opened a formal investigation on the case.

While the world is waiting to hear whether the apparitions in Bosnia will be formally recognized, the town continues enjoying the fame – as the summer season starts thousands of pilgrims arrive.

Medjugorje has become famous in 1981 when six youths said they had regularly seen visions of the Virgin there. Since then it has attracted more than 30 million faithful and became one of the most popular pilgrimage sites in Europe.

The first official investigation on reported apparitions was stopped due to the war in 1990s. Now, the Vatican has initiated a new one - an international commission of inquiry headed by Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini has been formed to study the case and report back to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In the meantime, the interest for Medjugorje only grows. The Apparition Hill in nearby Bijakovici is visited by thousands of pilgrims every day. Faithful come from all around the world – the United States, Italy, Ireland but also neighboring Croatia and Slovenia...

For the last three decades the poor village has transformed into one of the richest small towns in the country. It has accommodation capacities for about 16 000 people, tens of restaurants and souvenir shops.

Lately, the real estate market has also been flourishing as some of the pilgrims chose to visit the pilgrimage more often and even settle there.