Volunteers and parish workers in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, have restored the statue of Our Lady, Queen of Peace, on Apparition Hill the day after it was defaced in an overnight act of vandalism, according to local reports and the Medjugorje parish office.
The attack took place in the early hours of Tuesday, July 28, when black paint was poured across the face, chest, and dress of the statue on Podbrdo (Apparition Hill), and the words "Devil in a skirt" were scrawled on its pedestal. A second statue near the close-by Blue Cross was similarly defaced, and a banner in Polish naming the shrine's six visionaries was left at the site. Surveillance footage also captured a man dousing the outdoor altar of St. James Church with a flammable liquid and setting it on fire; the blaze was quickly extinguished by firefighters.
In response, members of the parish community, the Cenacolo Community, and other volunteers moved swiftly to clean and repair the damaged statues and altar area, allowing the shrine's evening prayer program to continue that same day.
After the restoration was completed, pilgrims and the Cenacolo Community knelt before our Lady to give thanks.
Bosnian police arrested a 31-year-old Polish national, identified in local media as Bartłomiej Włodzimierz Krakowiak of Kraków, in the village of Cerno near Ljubuški shortly after the incident. He faces charges of damaging or destroying religious property, an offense carrying a sentence of six months to five years under Bosnian law. Bosnian state prosecutors have since taken over the case.
The Medjugorje Parish Office issued 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," adding that "the shrine remains open to all pilgrims". Bishop Petar Palić of Mostar-Duvno also urged Catholics not to let evil "infect us with its own logic.”
The vandalism occurred just days ahead of Medjugorje's annual Mladifest Youth Festival, set to draw tens of thousands of pilgrims from August 1–6.
Act of Reparation for Blasphemy Against the Blessed Virgin Mary
Most glorious Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Mother, turn thine eyes in pity upon us, miserable sinners; we are sore afflicted by the many evils that surround us in this life, but especially do we feel our hearts break within us upon hearing the dreadful insults and blasphemies uttered against thee, O Virgin Immaculate. O how these impious sayings offend the infinite Majesty of God and of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ!
How they provoke His indignation and give us cause to fear the terrible effects of His vengeance! Would that the sacrifice of our lives might avail to put an end to such outrages and blasphemies; were it so, how gladly we should make it, for we desire, O most holy Mother, to love thee and to honor thee with all our hearts, since this is the will of God. And just because we love thee, we will do all that is in our power to make thee honored and loved by all men.
In the meantime do thou, our merciful Mother, the supreme comforter of the afflicted, accept this our act of reparation which we offer thee for ourselves and for all our families, as well as for all who impiously blaspheme thee, not knowing what they say.
Do thou obtain for them from Almighty God the grace of conversion, and thus render more manifest and more glorious thy kindness, thy power and thy great mercy. May they join with us in proclaiming thee blessed among women, the Immaculate Virgin and most compassionate Mother of God. Amen
3 x Hail Mary....
*As reported by EWTN Vatican, in September 2024, the Vatican has officially granted the “nihil obstat” (nothing stands in the way) to the devotion and spiritual experience in Medjugorje. This marked a significant moment for the millions of faithful who have followed the alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Vatican’s decision came after decades of in-depth investigations, inquiries, and studies, but included no decision regarding the authenticity of any of the claimed events.