Pilgrims attend Masses at Medjugorje’s St. James Church during the day and the evening Mass is celebrated outdoors to accommodate huge crowds.

Pilgrims to the Marian shrine in Medjugorje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, pray at the Church of St. James. About 1 million pilgrims visit the shrine each year.

A statue of Mary is seen outside St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in this Feb. 26, 2011, file photo. (Credit: CNS photo/Paul Haring.) Listen ROME – By comparing Medjugorje, a ...

A statue of Mary is seen outside St. James Church in Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina, in this Feb. 26, 2011, file photo. (CNS/Paul Haring) ...

MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina — As a journalist covering the Vatican, I’ve obviously been aware for a long time of the debate that swirls around Medjugorje, the small town in Bosnia ...