(ZENIT News / Rome, 11.04.2026).- More than four decades after the first reported Marian apparitions, Medjugorje is entering a new chapter in its relationship with the Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Francesco Cavina, the Bishop Emeritus of Carpi, Italy, as the new Apostolic Visitor of a special character to the parish in the Bosnian town, succeeding Archbishop Aldo Cavalli. His appointment comes at a  moment in the Vatican’s gradual assessment of one of the most controversial Marian pilgrimage destinations in the world.

In an interview with the Italian Catholic news agency SIR, Cavina described his new responsibility as both an unexpected source of joy and a demanding pastoral commitment. Although he had spent recent years travelling to celebrate liturgies, administer Confirmation, lead spiritual retreats and deliver conferences, he had not anticipated taking on another permanent assignment. He expressed gratitude to Leo XIV for his confidence and said he would entrust his new ministry, as well as the people he encounters in Medjugorje, to the Virgin Mary.

The appointment represents continuity rather than a change in the Holy See’s fundamental approach. The decisive development came on September 19, 2024, when the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published the note The Queen of Peace, granting Medjugorje a Nihil Obstat. Issued during the pontificate of Pope Francis, this recognition acknowledged the abundant spiritual and pastoral fruits associated with the pilgrimage site, while deliberately refraining from declaring the reported apparitions supernatural.

That distinction is essential to understanding the Church’s position. A Nihil Obstat is a favourable ecclesiastical assessment indicating that no obstacle has been identified to the faithful’s prudent participation in a particular spiritual experience. Under the Vatican’s current norms, it is the highest level of positive recognition available for phenomena of this kind, but it does not constitute approval of the alleged supernatural origin of apparitions or messages.

For Cavina, the significance of Medjugorje lies above all in what happens in the lives of pilgrims. He points particularly to conversions, renewed participation in the sacraments, devotion to the Eucharist, religious vocations and charitable initiatives. The extraordinary number of pilgrims seeking confession has become one of the most recognisable features of the Bosnian sanctuary, earning it the popular description of the “confessional of the world”.

Many visitors, he explained, rediscover the sacrament of Reconciliation after years away from the Church. Others recover their relationship with the Eucharist, rebuild family relationships or embark on a renewed Christian life. These transformations, rather than extraordinary claims surrounding the visionaries, constitute what the bishop regards as Medjugorje’s most important spiritual achievement. “The true miracle of Medjugorje is the transformation of hearts,” he observed.

This emphasis also reflects an important clarification made by the Vatican in its assessment of the phenomenon. The messages associated with Medjugorje contain themes consistent with Catholic spirituality, including peace, prayer, conversion, sacramental life and Christian hope. Nevertheless, the Church insists that the visionaries must not become the focal point of the experience. Mary, in the understanding of Catholic faith, directs believers towards Christ; the purpose of pilgrimage must therefore remain an encounter with Jesus through prayer, the Eucharist and conversion.

Cavina stressed that the visionaries are witnesses, not the destination of the pilgrimage. This distinction is particularly important in a phenomenon that has attracted millions of people and generated considerable international attention over several decades. It also guards against allowing private revelations, even those associated with significant spiritual fruits, to occupy a place that belongs exclusively to the Gospel and the public Revelation entrusted to the Church.

The new Apostolic Visitor inherits a pastoral responsibility shaped by the work of his predecessors, Archbishop Henryk Hoser and Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, as well as earlier Vatican commissions that examined the events and their consequences. His task will be to accompany the parish and its spiritual life within the framework established by the Holy See.

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