#Herzegovina – Vandals desecrated sacred sites at the popular Marian pilgrimage destination of Medjugorje overnight on July 27-28th, defacing statues of the Virgin Mary and setting fire to an outdoor altar, authorities and parish officials reported on Tuesday.
Police in the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton received the first report at approximately 4:30 a.m. concerning damage on Apparition Hill, also known as Podbrdo. There, the face and hands of a prominent statue of Our Lady had been covered in black paint. Offensive graffiti appeared on the pedestal, including the English phrase “Devil in a skirt,” along with messages accusing the site’s reported visionaries of deception. A banner written in Polish named the six individuals associated with the alleged apparitions that began in 1981—Ivanka, Mirjana, Milka, Vicka, Ivan, and Jakov—and labeled them fraudsters, claiming “I have proof.” A second Marian statue near the Blue Cross was similarly defaced.
About 30 minutes later, officers were alerted to a fire at the outdoor altar of St. James Church. Surveillance footage captured a man approaching the recently renovated structure with a container of flammable liquid, believed to be petrol, pouring it over the altar, and igniting it. The blaze was quickly extinguished, though it caused damage to the flooring, seating, and covering materials. The fire did not spread to the church itself.
The Medjugorje Parish Office issued a statement expressing deep sadness over the acts that damaged the parish’s places of prayer. Officials said cleaning and repair work began immediately so the sites could again be prepared for worship. They thanked those assisting with the efforts to keep the shrine “a place of encounter with God, a place of peace.”
“In a special way, we invite all faithful to respond to this event in the way that Our Lady has been teaching us for over forty years in Medjugorje: with prayer, fasting, and forgiveness,” the statement read. “We pray for the conversion of the hearts of those who committed this act, that the Lord may touch them with His grace and lead them on the path of goodness. We also pray for peace in the hearts of all people. … May this event encourage us to take her invitation even more seriously: not to return evil for evil, but to witness love, forgiveness, and hope with our lives.”
The parish confirmed that the shrine remained open to pilgrims, regular prayer programs continued uninterrupted, and restoration of the affected areas proceeded rapidly. Police launched an investigation and later arrested a suspect in the Ljubuški area, specifically in the village of Cerno in the West Herzegovina Canton.
Reports identified the individual as a 31-year-old Polish national from Warsaw. Investigators worked to establish a motive and determine the full extent of any connection to the incidents. Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Foreign Minister Gordan Grlić Radman condemned the vandalism, with the latter describing it as a “deep insult to believers” and affirming that Medjugorje would remain a place of peace, prayer, and hope.
The incidents occurred days before the annual Youth Festival (Mladifest), scheduled for August 1–6 and expected to draw tens of thousands of young people from around the world. Parish officials indicated that planned events would proceed as scheduled.
Medjugorje has drawn Catholic pilgrims since six local young people reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary beginning in 1981. In September 2024, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a nihil obstat recognizing the positive spiritual fruits associated with the shrine and permitting public devotion, while stopping short of declaring the apparitions supernatural in origin.
Cover Image: the moment in which the shrine was set ablaze on July 28th, 2026.
