Medjugorje: What Catholics Should Know About the Alleged Marian Apparitions, by Joseph Pronechen

Since June 24-25, 1981, the eve and feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, when six children in a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina first reported seeing and receiving messages from the Blessed Virgin Mary, more than 40 million pilgrims from around the world have flocked to the small village named Medjugorje.

Pilgrims attend Masses at Medjugorje’s St. James Church during the day and the evening Mass is celebrated outdoors to accommodate huge crowds. They climb rocky Podbrdo — Apparition Hill — bearing a statue of Our Lady, marking where she allegedly appeared. Pilgrims also climb up Mount Križevac, praying the Stations of the Cross, journeying to the huge cross nearly 40 feet tall built by villagers in the early 20th century. They fill the lines at all the confessionals, as the sacrament of penance is offered daily. …