Vandals Attack Medjugorje Shrines, Accuse Visionaries of Fraud

Shocking scenes greeted pilgrims and locals in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on the morning of July 28, 2026, just before the start of Mladifest, a major youth gathering. In the pre-dawn hours of July 28, unknown individuals vandalized three significant prayer locations within the sanctuary.

The recently restored outdoor altar near St. James Church caught fire. While the blaze was quickly extinguished, footage shows a person approaching the altar and dousing it with liquid, likely gasoline, shortly before the incident. Simultaneously, statues of the Virgin Mary on Apparition Hill and near the Blue Cross were defaced with black paint on their faces, chests, and parts of their garments.

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Ivanka, Mirjana, Milka, Vicka, Ivan and Jakov are fraudsters. I have proof!!!

Written messages and banners with religious and critical content were left with the damaged statues. A message in English reading "DEVIL IN A SKIRT" was found on a pedestal on Apparition Hill, while the word "EVIL" was scrawled near the Blue Cross. A banner in Polish declared, "Ivanka, Mirjana, Milka, Vicka, Ivan and Jakov are fraudsters. I have proof!!!" The banner also bore the date "14. 10. 17." and unclear initials, whose meaning remains undetermined.

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DEVIL IN A SKIRT

The number 1242 was also written in several places, a number associated in messages with a biblical verse from the Gospel of Matthew about the Queen of the South and a paragraph from Emanuel Swedenborg's "Heavenly Secrets." The perpetrator may be using this to criticize sensationalism and point to idolatry and the need for a return to original worship.

Police have secured the scenes and are investigating. While no official confirmation of the perpetrator's identity or number exists, unofficial speculation points to a foreign national experiencing psychological difficulties. Local media report the suspect may be in the Ljubuški area, and the public has been urged to report any information about their whereabouts or identity. Some outlets have reported an arrest, but officials have not confirmed this.

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EVIL