It’s been 26 years since the news agencies were first shaken up by the news saying that on 25th June 1981 the Mother of God appeared to a group of children living in Međugorje. Thanks to the apparitions of the Holy Mother, the parish of Međugorje under the protection of St. Jacob, the Apostle and the patron saint of pilgrims, has become a place where pilgrims from all over the world gather and pray. Among numerous messages of the Holy Mother the five basic ones stand out: peace, faith, conversion, prayer and fast.
Recognizable symbols of Međugorje are the Hill of the Apparition and Križevac. The Holy Mother first appeared on the Hill Crnica today known as the Hill of the Apparition. There is a path leading to the very spot where the Holy Mother appeared and alongside the path there are bronze reliefs of joyful and sad mysteries of the rosary. The people of Međugorje erected at the top of the nearby Hill Križevac an 8,56–metre high cross engraved with the following words: "To Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human kind, as an expression of faith, love and hope, in memory of the 1900th anniversary of the Passion of Christ". The pilgrims honour the Way of the Cross by walking up the path with fifteen bronze reliefs alongside showing the figure of the Holy Mother following Jesus.
The Church hasn’t yet expressed its attitude towards the apparitions in Međugorje. At the conference meeting in Zadar in 1991 the bishops expressed their opinion pointing out, among other things, the following: "...numerous gatherings of the believers coming to Međugorje from all over the world for religious or other reasons request attention and pastoral care of the diocesan bishop and other bishops as well in order to promote throughout Međugorje healthy religiousness towards the Holy Virgin Mary in line with the doctrines of the Church."
