MEDJUGORJE ON THE MOVE

In the summer of 1981, six Croatian children said they had been receiving daily visitations from the Virgin Mary. In the nearly two decades since, more than 20 million people have made pilgrimages to a shrine in Medjugorje, a small town in Bosnia (the former country of Yugoslavia). From the United States alone, more than 150 Marian Groups have visited the site of the purported visions. The visionaries and their “Apparition Hill” have become a lucrative industry.

Now, for those in the United States seeking a message from the mother of Jesus through the Medjugorje visionaries, travel to the war-torn country is no longer a necessity. Ivan Dragicevic, one of the visionaries, is drawing thousands in meetings across this country. According to Jan. 17, 2000, Newsweek magazine, “Devotees come to watch him commune with Mary, then translate her messages to the crowd.” Dragicevic, now 34, says the Virgin Mary usually appears to him at 6:40 p.m. — apparently regardless of the city in which he is conducting his intermediary rituals. From Boston to Dallas to Oakland, Calif., Dragicevic finds himself a celebrity in America and a man in demand, the magazine reported.

Dragicevic says Mary appears to him with “black hair, blue eyes, rosy checks, a white veil and a crown of stars.” He also says he has seen heaven.

The Medjugorje visions have never been verified or sanctioned by the Catholic Church, either locally or universally. In 1987, the bishops of Yugoslavia stated that “one cannot affirm that supernatural apparitions are involved.” Likewise, the Vatican offers no endorsement, saying it is continuing to investigate the reports.

—MKG

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