date: 02.08.2025.
The dates and themes of the international spiritual retreats for next year in Medjugorje have been announced. The theme of all spiritual retreats is ''Ad fontem! To the source!''
The Youth Festival, which is taking place at a slightly different time this year due to the Youth Jubilee that is held in Rome, next year it is returning to its usual time, the first days of August, i.e. from August 1 to 6.
The 25th International Spiritual Retreat for Married Couples will be held in Medjugorje from February 4 to 7, 2026.
The 31st International Spiritual Retreat for Pilgrimage Organizers, Leaders of Peace Centers, Prayer and Charity Groups Related to Medjugorje will be held from March 9 to 13, 2026.
The 29th International Spiritual Retreat for Priests will be held in Medjugorje from June 29 to July 3 next year, and the theme of all these spiritual retreats is, "Ad fontem! To the source!", as it was explained to us by the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić.
"Next year we celebrate the 800th anniversary of the death of our holy father Francis, who, towards the end of his life, said an interesting sentence to his brothers: 'Brothers, let us start from the beginning because up to now we have done almost nothing.' St. Francis was constantly consumed by this longing to be immersed in newness, in the newness of life, that is, in the newness that only Christ can give. Therefore, he aspired to always be immersed in Christ. Also his statement, 'Let us begin anew', has remained famous in Franciscanism. Whenever we want to start over, it is necessary to return to the beginnings, to the sources... This is, we could say, a humanistic idea, ad fontes, to the sources, but the Church also takes it up in the sense that we should always return to the sources, to the sources of our faith, to the sources where everything began. Therefore, we decided to choose this very theme for the theme of the International Spiritual Retreats for the next year, in order to commemorate the death of our holy father Francis, so that, following his advice, we would begin anew, always anew, in order to return to the sources. It was then we decided to keep it in the singular, not to be a phrase, an expression taken from humanism, but to truly be clear with our theme, with this expression that Christ is our only source. So we named the theme 'Ad fontem! To the source!''', said Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić and emphasized that in his catechesis and speeches, as well as at the International Spiritual Retreats, he will make a great effort to go to the source, to go to Christ...
''We can say that this is also the theme of this Jubilee Year, 'Pilgrims of Hope', meaning, pilgrims towards hope, pilgrims towards Christ who is our only hope.
Therefore, we will make an effort, to return to the source, to Christ who is the source and the source of all events, of all reality, in him is all fullness, he is the source of life and therefore in our speeches and catechesis we will always try to return to him, to our source. Likewise, we will try to address Franciscan themes, Saint Francis of Assisi, precisely because of the 800th anniversary of his passage from this earth to eternity. But also, we will invite all faithful to return to the source of Medjugorje, where it all began, in order to live something, it is good to get to know the beginnings, to return to the source, that is always relevant in spiritual life, especially in monasticism, a return to the source, where something began, where something was born, therefore we will also try to always return to the beginnings, to reflect on the beginnings of Medjugorje and through those beginnings to think about our present in which we find ourselves", said Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić, concluding that he believes "that this topic will help everyone to manage to live in the present, in the moment in which we are, by returning to the source, to Christ, to the beginning".
