Our Lady of Medjugorje

Our Lady of Medjugorje
Statue of Our Lady of Tihaljina, often mistaken for the Gospa of Medjugorje (see § Description of Mary)
Location	Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Witness	Mirjana Dragicevic Ivanka Ivanković Marija Pavlović Jakov Colo Vicka Ivanković Ivan Dragicevic
Type	Marian apparition
Holy See approval	Pending approval by the Holy See
Shrine	Medjugorje

Our Lady of Medjugorje (also called Queen of Peace) is the title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary by those who believe that she appeared in 1981 to six Herzegovinian children in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina (at the time in SFR Yugoslavia). The visionaries often refer to the apparition as the "Gospa" which is Croatian for "Lady". On May 13, 2017, Pope Francis declared that the alleged apparitions were "without value."

On 24 June 1981, young Mirjana Dragicevic and Ivanka Ivanković reported seeing an apparition of the Virgin Mary in a village in what is now in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The following day another vision was reported, this time also by four other young people:, Marija Pavlović Jakov Colo, Vicka Ivanković, and Ivan Dragicevic.

The children claim that they saw an apparition on the hill Crnica (on the place called Podbrdo); the alleged apparition was a white form with a child in her arms. Surprised and scared, they did not approach. The next day at the same time four of the youths returned, and were later joined by the other two.

For several years the six visionaries reported seeing daily apparitions from the Virgin Mary. It has been reported that Our Lady of Medjugorje has been appearing daily to three of these visionaries ever since, some say that they have stopped having daily apparitions.

At the time of the first alleged apparition Vicka Ivanković was sixteen years old. She claims to have prayed with Our Lady and talked to her; she also claims to have been given nine "secrets".

Her "prayer mission", said to have been given by the Blessed Virgin Mary, is to pray for the sick. Vicka says that her daily apparitions have not yet stopped. Vicka claims to have received a biography of Mary's life, contained in two hand written notebooks, which Vicka has said will be published when the Blessed Virgin Mary tells her to do so.

Vicka Ivanković continues to meet with pilgrims to Medjugorje, which she has done for over twenty one years. Vicka is often called "the smiling visionary" because she always has a smile filled with joy on her face.

Regarding her alleged visions, Vicka once stated:

A 2009 paper by Yale Divinity School student Daniel Klimek details the intricate connection between the Medjugorje apparitions and the writings of Italian mystic Maria Valtorta.