Vandals desecrated two statues of Our Lady and set fire to the outdoor altar of St James Church at the Medjugorje shrine in Bosnia and Herzegovina yesterday. Source: EWTN News.
The vandalism occurred days before the shrine’s annual Mladifest youth festival.
The statue of Our Lady on Podbrdo, or Apparition Hill, was doused with black paint across the face, chest, and dress, with the words “Devil in a skirt” scrawled on its pedestal, local media reported.
The statue of Our Lady at the nearby Blue Cross was similarly defaced, with “EVIL” written on a nearby stone slab. A banner in Polish naming the six alleged seers was left near the Podbrdo statue.
Police in Čitluk received the first report at 4.30am local time and a report of fire at the recently renovated altar behind St James parish church at 5am, a police spokeswoman said.
Surveillance footage shows a man dousing the altar with flammable liquid and igniting it. Cantonal police later confirmed to local media that a suspect was arrested on Tuesday afternoon. His identity has not been released.
“We received with great sadness the news of the act of vandalism that damaged the places of prayer in our parish,” the Medjugorje parish office said in a statement, calling on the faithful to respond “as Our Lady has been teaching us in Medjugorje for more than 40 years: with prayer, fasting, and forgiveness.”
Cleanup began immediately, the parish said, and “the shrine remains open to all pilgrims”.
Bishop Petar Palić of Mostar-Duvno expressed deep sorrow, urging the faithful not to let evil “infect us with its own logic”, while the Interreligious Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina condemned the attack.
The Vatican granted a nihil obstat to devotion at Medjugorje in September 2024.
The decision, Vatican News reports, recognised the positive spiritual fruits associated with the shrine and permitted public devotion, without making a declaration on the supernatural character of the reported apparitions.
Mladifest opens August 1 and is expected to draw 50,000 to 60,000 pilgrims.
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Vandals deface Our Lady statues, set fire to altar at Medjugorje shrine (EWTN News)
