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Crossing Continents: Medjugorje

Medjugorje

19/08/2010

BBC Radio 4 - Crossing Continents, Medjugorje

Allan Little investigates the sensitivities around Medjugorje, the Lourdes of Bosnia.

Allan Little investigates the political sensitivities around Medjugorje, a Bosnian town which has become a huge Catholic pilgrimage site following visions of the Virgin Mary.

In Medjugorje the age of miracles isn't over: it is alive and well and is big business. The Catholic boom town in the Bosnian hills now rivals the better known Fatima or Lourdes. There were eight appearances of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes, yet since 1981 there have been 33,000 at Medjugorje, where she appears practically every day. The Vatican is currently investigating the validity of the claims.

Meanwhile the pilgrims keep rolling in and spending their money. The town is also a hotbed of Croat ultra-nationalists, who some say are using the religious fervour to boost their own political influence in the region. Allan Little investigates the political sensitivities around Medjugorje.

Producer: Paul Vickers.

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