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A place of spiritual enrichment -

A popular pilgrim site in Bosnia and Herzegovina has received tentative Vatican approval as a place of spiritual enrichment.

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A blessing from Pope Francis -

With the blessing of Pope Francis, the announcement was made in Rome by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, on September 19.

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Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández -

Cardinal Fernández revealed that Medjugorje, a town in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, had been granted the status of Nihil Obstat.

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Medjugorje -

Nihil Obstat means that the Vatican has acknowledged the "spiritual experience of Medjugorje" and officially endorses the departure of believers and church pilgrimages to Medjugorje.

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Apparitions of the Virgin Mary -

However, the Vatican stopped short of recognizing the alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary reported by six school children in 1981, instead insisting that Pope Francis' approval is based on the pastoral reality of the village and that many "positive fruits" had come from the site since the sightings over 40 years ago.

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Crnica hill, Bijakovici -

On June 24, 1981, six youngsters claimed to have experienced a vision of the Virgin Mary on Crnica hill in the village of Bijakovici near Medjugorje, then part of Yugoslavia.

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"Queen of Peace" -

The apparition identified herself to the children as the "Queen of Peace" and continued to appear to the bemused visionaries every day.

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Authorities on alert -

As reports of the Marian apparitions circulated throughout the countryside, crowds of people began to converge on Bijakovici, much to the alarm of the Yugoslav state.

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Catholicism and communism -

Expressions of Catholic faith were strictly forbidden in communist Yugoslavia, and the authorities weren't prepared to tolerate the growing numbers of people gathering daily on a hill to pray to some alleged apparition.

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False rumors -

The children fell under intense scrutiny and were questioned by police. The communists threatened them and their families, believing they were spreading false rumors.

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Fleeing reprimands -

Terrified of potential repercussions, the children fled the area, running like frightened rabbits through vineyards and olive groves towards St. James Church.

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Sanctuary -

With the police hot on their heels, the six seers sought sanctuary in the church. There they confided in Father Jozo Zovko, the parish priest. Believing their story, Father Zovko hid them in the rectory basement.

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Faithful following -

With access to Crnica hill cordoned off, the overflowing crowds instead gathered in the church to listen to Father Zovko's homilies.

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Arrest of Father Zovko -

Himself now under suspicion by the authorities, Father Zovko was shadowed by the secret police and eventually arrested for sedition. After a swift trial he was jailed for three and a half years, during which he was sometimes subjected to torture. Father Zovko was released after 18 months due to pressure from the Vatican.

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Collapse of communism -

By the early 1990s, travel by pilgrims to the site was no longer being hindered by the state. The authorities had far more pressing concerns to deal with—the impending breakup of Yugoslavia.

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Bosnian War -

During the Bosnian War (1992–1995), Medjugorje remained in the hands of the Croatian Defense Council. By 1995, the town had been incorporated into the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Worth closer scrutiny -

In 2017, Pope Francis declared that the original visions reported by the teenagers were worth studying in more depth. Meanwhile, a number of the original visionaries continued to report continued regular visions of the Virgin Mary.

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Vatican remains cautious -

The Vatican, however, was still not convinced that the apparitions were supernatural in origin.

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A skeptical Rome -

Then in 2019, the Vatican officially authorized pilgrimages to Medjugorje, lifting its own ban on gatherings at Bijakovici by the faithful. But Rome remained skeptical of the continued visions reported over the years since 1981.

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Our Lady of Medjugorje -

By now, the Queen of Peace had become Our Lady of Medjugorje. A statue of the Virgin Mary was erected at the site of the first Marian apparition.

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Major center of Catholic pilgrimage -

Medjugorje today is an important site of Catholic pilgrimage. Since the reports of the first apparitions surfaced, more than 40 million people have traveled to Bijakovici.

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Positive fruits -

The positive fruits alluded to by Pope Francis refer to the "abundant conversions, a frequent return to the sacraments (particularly, the Eucharist and Reconciliation), and many vocations to priestly, religious and married life," that pilgrims visiting the site come away with.

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Finding a new life -

"The positive fruits are most evident in the promotion of a healthy practice of a life of faith, in accordance with the tradition of the Church," the Vatican elaborated.

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Finding faith -

"In the context of Medjugorje, this applies both to those who had been previously distant from the faith, as well as to those who had practiced the faith only superficially," added the statement.

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Spiritual conversion -

Indeed, many pilgrims have reported experiencing profound spiritual conversions after visiting Medjugorje. Pictured are devotees negotiating what is today called Apparition Hill, the new name for Crnica hill.

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Call to the Catholic Church -

According to Tekton Ministries, close to 1,000 men have found their calling to be priests in or around Medjugorje.

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"The confessional of the world" -

Medjugorje is dubbed "the confessional of the world" because of how profoundly people experience the sacrament there.

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Religious tourism -

As a major center for Catholic pilgrimage (over a thousand hotel and hostel beds are available for pilgrims to the town, plus numerous souvenir stores feature statues of the Virgin Mary), Medjugorje has the most overnight stays in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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Controversial -

But the regularity of the alleged messages from the Virgin Mary, the content of some of the messages that appear to be contradictory to accepted doctrine, plus the accusations against Bishop Pavao Žanić, who became a fierce opponent of the Medjugorje phenomenon believing that they were a Franciscan manipulation and a hoax, have resulted in Medjugorje being somewhat of a controversial devotion.

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Judgment differed -

It's for these reasons, among others, that while the pope has given his blessing to Medjugorje, the Vatican refuses to make a judgment about the authenticity of the alleged apparitions of June 1981, or the alleged messages uttered by the Virgin Mary.

Sources: (Vatican News) (Fox News) (Medjugorje) (Tekton Ministries) 

See also: The world's most famous apparitions of Jesus and Mary

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