Kneeling amid a crowded church, I witnessed something that could have been a miracle–or just as easily a scam. On March 7, 2024, a man named Ivan Dragicevic was standing in front of a full church with visitors from all over the state claiming to have witnessed an apparition from Mary just a few minutes prior. His message was compelling, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he was REALLY seeing a heavenly apparition just a hundred feet away from me. After the fact, I decided to research his story and decide for myself whether or not he was telling the truth.
Ivan Dragicevic, born in 1965, is one of the six visionaries of Medjugorje. Medjugorje is a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina where many believe Mary has visited routinely since 1981. The very first time she ever visited was on June 24th, 1981 at around 6 pm to six young people: Ivan, Jackov, Marija, Vicka, Marijana, and Ivanka amidst political unrest in their country. They describe a woman with beauty beyond words who identified herself as Our Lady Queen of Peace. Some of the visionaries report apparitions once a year, while some report apparitions daily (including Ivan). The main message she conveys hardly changes: to keep God at the center of humanity. The apparitions will allegedly stop once all six visionaries have received all 10 secrets of Medjugorje (they are not permitted to share these secrets). The apparition will be verified when the secrets are revealed because they will be revealed three days before these secret events allegedly occurred.
The Vatican formally authorized pilgrimages to Medjugorje, granting that the pilgrims do not present the apparitions as approved by the Church. The Vatican also released a letter stating that Catholics are not permitted to participate in events where the validity of the apparitions is taken for granted.
After all this research, I’m still conflicted: it could either be the longest-running apparition (42 years) or it could be the longest-running scam in the history of the Church. I do not believe that this is the work of the devil because the devil would not be causing thousands to go to confession in Medjugorje each year, or telling people to pray for three hours each day. And if it were a scam, it would take a lot of effort to uphold that you are receiving an apparition daily/annually for your whole life. There is also the point that the message has remained relevant for many years, considering interviews recorded in 1991 are consistent with the messages of 1981 and 2024. However, something still holds me back from completely going into the story of Medjugorje. Going back to actually witnessing the alleged apparition, something kept holding me back from fully believing in the apparition. After researching it more fully I have come to a not-so-conclusive conclusion. There is a big chance that this apparition is valid and if it is then in our lifetime we will find out what the “secret events” are, but I’m still going to remain skeptical of the whole ordeal until the Vatican has confirmed that Mary indeed has visited these visionaries numerous times over the past 42 years.
By Josie Marcucci ‘25, Contributing Writer
