Medjugorje shrine restores vandalized statue of Our Lady, damaged outdoor altar
Volunteers quickly restored a vandalized statue of Our Lady and a damaged outdoor altar at the Medjugorje shrine in Bosnia after a vandal desecrated them with black paint and fire early July 28.
Volunteers in Medjugorje restored a statue of Our Lady atop Apparition Hill and repaired an outdoor altar hours after a vandal covered the statue’s face and hands with black paint and set the altar on fire early July 28 at the popular Marian shrine in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
According to a Facebook post from Center Mir Medjugorje, an official English-language information center affiliated with the Medjugorje parish, parishioners, members of the Medjugorje-based Cenacolo Community, and other volunteers carried out the restoration work. Their efforts allowed the shrine’s evening prayer program to proceed as scheduled later that day.
As Zeale News previously reported, local police arrested a suspect near Medjugorje July 28 in connection with the vandalism and fire. In its Facebook post, Center Mir Medjugorje identified him as a 31-year-old Polish man.
“Let us pray for the conversion of hearts and for peace in every heart. May we never respond to evil with evil, but instead bear witness through our lives to love, forgiveness, and hope,” the center wrote on Facebook. “Our Lady, Queen of Peace, pray for us!”
Footage circulating online showed a man pouring what appeared to be gasoline across the area around the altar and setting it on fire, as Zeale News also reported. Police received a report that someone had desecrated the statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the nearby Apparition Hill about 30 minutes before the fire. According to AP News, an inscription on the statue’s pedestal read “Devil in a skirt,” and a nearby banner accused the six people connected to the reported Marian apparitions of fraud.
The shrine has remained open to pilgrims, and its regular prayer and Mass schedule have continued uninterrupted.
Medjugorje has drawn millions of visitors since six local children first reported a Marian apparition there in 1981. In September 2024, the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith, with Pope Francis’ approval, issued a nihil obstat allowing public devotion at the site. The decision recognized the spiritual fruits associated with Medjugorje but did not determine whether the reported apparitions were of supernatural origin.
