Medjugorje (which in Croatian means “between the mountains” and is pronounced “Medg-yu-gor-ye”) is a small town located in the heart of Herzegovina, where the Blessed Virgin Mary purportedly began appearing to six children on Apparition Hill on June 24th, 1981. To this day, some of the visionaries continue to receive apparitions, through which Our Lady asks for prayer, fasting, confession, the Eucharist and the Gospel. Since 1981, millions of people from all over the world have visited Medjugorje and have had life changing experiences. Medjugorje has become one of the most visited Marian destinations in the world. Today it is a popular site for Catholic pilgrimages as visitors experience grace, miracles and transformations while simultaneously encountering goodness, peace and joy.
*In May 2018, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Henryk Hoser as Apostolic Visitor to St. James Parish in Medjugorje. A short year after the appointment of Hoser, on May 13, 2019, the Holy See officially announced that Dioceses and Parishes throughout the world are officially authorized to organize Pilgrimages to Medjugorje.
*In November 2021, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Aldo Cavalli as succeeding Apostolic Visitor to Medjugorje toward officially recognizing Medjugorje as a sacred Catholic site. And on September 19, 2024, the Vatican granted approval for Medjugorje devotion.
*On December 24, 2024, the Vatican also granted a Plenary Indulgence under the usual conditions (sacramental Confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff), to the faithful who are truly penitent and moved by charity, which they can obtain throughout the Ordinary Jubilee Year of 2025, and which they can also use as a prayer for the souls of the faithful in purgatory if they make a pilgrimage to the Church of St. James in Medjugorje and devoutly participate in the Jubilee rites there or at least dedicate appropriate time to pious prayers, including the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed and the invocations of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The decree is valid throughout the Jubilee Year 2025.
