Each years millions of pilgrims visit the remote mountain village of Medjugorje in Yugoslavia. On their return many speak in amazement of a whole village on its knees before God. There in 1981, six children aged eleven to sixteen, claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary, to have spoken with her and to have touched her. — And in the intervening years, she has reputedly appeared to them daily. She describes herself as the Queen of Peace and brings a message of reconciliation, healing and staying faithful to the gospel.
Her message has struck a nerve with millions, believers and non-believers alike. As with Lourdes, the greatest miracle appears to be a change of heart, a newly discovered peace of mind. And this in spite of the element of the apocalyptic contained in the Lady's messages -- the hints that we are living in the end times, on the brink of universal catastrophe if we do not change our ways.
But how much credence can we give t the claims of the witnesses of Medjogorje? Are the six young people genuine visionaries or accomplished liars? The Catholic clergy is divided and Rome has yet to pronounce a judgment. Initially hostile, the Yugoslav government ceased it campaign of ridicule as it reaped the economic benefits of ten million tourists.