date: 21.09.2025.
The book “The Queen of Peace”: Note About the Spiritual Experience Connected with Medjugorje (Text of the Note and Interventions at the Press Conference on September 19, 2024 on the occasion of the declaration of nihil obstat for Medjugorje), will be presented on Sunday, September 21, at 8 p.m., in the John Paul II Hall.
At that press conference, a year ago in the Vatican, Dr. Andrea Tornielli, director of the Editorial Department of the Dicastery for Communication, also spoke. He spoke about statistics and stated that about three million tourists visit Medjugorje annually.
“The statistics are constantly updates: last month, August, 2024, 325,000 Communions were distributed and there were 9,582 priests who concelebrated (309 per day)”, said Tornielli, while in August of this year, 350,000 Communions were distributed, and there were 8,077 priests who concelebrated (260 per day).
“I would now like to mention a fact concerning the typology of pilgrims on the basis of the only scientific study, edited by the sociologist from the Catholic University of Milan, Luca Pesenti. His research is published in the volume ‘My life changed in Medjugorje’, edited by Gerolamo Fazzini (Edizioni Ares),” said Tornielli, presenting the data from the aforementioned research.
“Pesenti, who does not hide his ‘diffidence’ with respect to the phenomenon, analyzed a sample of 1049 questionnaires, filled in by pilgrims taken by Rusconi Viaggi to Medjugorje between April and October 2015 by bus or plane. Here too, it should be clarified that this is a selective sample, as it concerns only one travel agency specialized in organizing pilgrimages to Medjugorje.”
“The following are the motivations leading to the pilgrimage: for 38%, the search for spiritual comfort; for 23% the request for grace for oneself or for others; for 11.7%, thanksgiving for graces received; 17.7 for a need for contact with the sacred or for 15%, due to an invitation. Only 5.6% were simply curious.”
“The pilgrims are believers who place at the top of their ideal priorities those related to meeting the needs of others (53.3%) and defending and respecting life in all its forms (51.4%).”
“An interesting fact: almost half the sample (48.8%) had already been to Medjugorje previously, and in two thirds of these latter cases, we encounter a sort of pilgrimage repeated over and over again. For 39% it was their very first pilgrimage destination, while for 8% it was the first Marian pilgrimage.”
“Judgement on the apparitions changes from before to after the journey: from moderate certainty at the beginning, marked by 70%, to more than 85% at the end of the journey, with ‘absolute’ certainty reached by 59% (compared to the 41% declared at the outset). Pesenti explains, ‘This is a very significant displacement effect, lowering the area of doubt and scepticism to under 9% compared to 22% at the start. Only 5% of the respondents returned home with a disappointing opinion.’”
“The great majority of those who return to Medjugorje indicate a change of life: 48.8% declare that ‘something’ changed after the first visit, and that ‘much’ changed for a further 30.4%, up to a ‘radical’ change declared in 14.5% of cases. The Medjugorje effect leads to an increase in frequency of religious practice, the sacraments and prayer,” says the research presented by Andrea Tornielli at the Vatican on September 19, 2024, during the declaration of Nihil Obstat for Medjugorje.
You can read Tornielli's entire report, as well as all other details from the press conference, in the book “The Queen of Peace”: Note About the Spiritual Experience Connected with Medjugorje (Text of the Note and interventions at the Press Conference on September 19, 2024, on the occasion of the declaration of Nihil Obstat for Medjugorje).
This book will be presented by the editor, Nedjeljka Sr. Valerija Kovač, Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Medjugorje, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, and the parish priest of Medjugorje, Fr. Zvonimir Pavičić. The Director of the Information Center “Mir” Medjugorje, Vedran Vidović, will deliver a welcoming address, the program will be hosted by Sanja Pehar, and the musical part will feature the Medjugorje parish choir “Kraljica Mira”.
The presentation program will be translated into the following languages: ITALIAN FM 99.7 and ENGLISH FM 94.3. We kindly ask all pilgrims to bring their own devices to listen to the translation of the program.
