Medjugorje

Medjugorje (Serbo-Croatian: Međugorje, pronounced [mêdʑuɡoːrje] ) is a village in the municipality of Čitluk in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our Lady of Medjugorje, a purported series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, to six local children, which some people believe are still happening to this day. The name Medjugorje literally means "between mountains". At an altitude of 200 m (660 ft) above sea level it has a mild Mediterranean climate. The town consists of an ethnically homogeneous Croat population of 2,306. The Catholic parish includes four neighbouring villages: Bijakovići, Vionica, Miletina and Šurmanci. Since 2019, pilgrimages to Medjugorje have been authorized by the Vatican as long as there is no assumption the events are confirmed to have a supernatural origin. In September 2024, the Vatican formally endorsed "prudent devotion" to Virgin Mary at Medjugorje but made no declaration that the purported apparitions actually took place.