Since 1981, it has become a popular site of Catholic pilgrimage due to Our Lady of Medjugorje, a purported series of apparitions of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus, to six local children,[1] which some people believe are still happening to this day.

[3][4] In September 2024, the Vatican formally endorsed "prudent devotion" to Mary at Medjugorje but made no declaration that the purported apparitions actually took place.

It lies within the Herzegovina-Neretva Canton, one of ten autonomous regions established so that no ethnic group could dominate the Federation.

[citation needed] On 2 April 1995, at the high point of conflict within the local diocese, Bishop Ratko Perić was kidnapped by Croat militiamen, beaten, and taken to a chapel run by one of the Franciscans associated with Međugorje, where he was held hostage for ten hours.

[23] In 2018, the Pope named Hoser as an apostolic visitor to Medjugorje, for "an undefined period and at nutum Sanctae Sedis" (at the disposal of the Holy See).

The aim of this mission is "ensuring a stable and continuous accompaniment to the parish community of Medjugorje and to the faithful who go there as pilgrims, and whose needs require particular attention.

[4] On September 19 2024, Vatican City, with the blessing of Pope Francis, granted Medjugorje the status of 'Nulla Osta' (Nihil Obstat).

[26][27] The Vatican's document stated that the ruling was made because “many positive fruits have been noted in the midst of a spiritual experience, while negative and dangerous effects have not spread among the People of God.”[28] According to the 2013 census, its population was 2,265.