The pilgrimage village of Medjugorje in Bosnia and Herzegovina lies at the foot of mountains 20km (16m) west of Mostar and 80 miles north of Dubrovnik. It has become a world famous Marian sanctuary. The contemporary importance of Medjugorje dates back to June 24, 1881 when a group of six girls and boys( 11- 17 years old) had visions of Our LADY ON Crnica hill by Bijakovici hamlet at 6.45. Since then it has developed into a major pilgrimage centre.
Church and state authorities were amazed and alarmed by the miraculous events. People from all over the world (from Vancouver to Melbourne) and of all denominations and convictions went there annually in thousands, hundreds of thousands millions. The communist regime in Bosnia Herzegovina tried to stop pilgrims getting there. Jozo Zovko, the local priest, was Sentenced to three and a half years in prison, August 1981.
A number of theological and medical commissions studied the phenomena of Medjugorje and the visionary children, all of whom were pronounced sane. The theological commission however did not reach any final decision as to the nature of the visions. Our Lady's messages began to travels from Medjugorje appealing for PEACE, PRAYER, FASTING and CONVERSION.
Medjugorje (last census before the miraculous events 1159) was first mentioned in 1599. The Croatian Roman Catholic population were the successors of Illyrians the period of whose settlement is marked by the remains of high burial places of stone and hilltop forts, later destroyed by the Romans. It is notable that the Franciscan Petar Bakula as early as 1857 wrote that an intense pink light was often to be seen near the old church in Medjugorje.
The local St James's church was begun in 1937 and consecrated in 1969. A cross (14 m high) was placed on a nearby hill not far from the church in 1993. The pilgrims go mostly to the place where the children saw the visions of Our Lady, to St James's and to the cross on the hill. It is estimated that more than 12,000,000 pilgrims went to Medjugorje in the 12 years preceding the 1992 war. The Yugo army tried to destroy Medjugorje by bombing and shelling, but did not more than briefly interrupt the human stream of pilgrims to Our Lady Queen of Peace.
The Medjugorje parish center registered several thousands of sick or disabled who were healed at Medjugorje, all cases being under punctilious scrutiny. In spite of all doubting stories about this little Croatian village Pope John Paul said of it "Medjugorje is a centre of supreme spirituality“.
