Medjugorje
Production Company: Believe Entertainment
SYNOPSIS: On June 24th, 1981, the Virgin Mary began to make daily appearances to six otherwise unremarkable children in the tiny, backwater village of Medjugorje, in Bosnia-Herzogovina, itself a minor province in the former country of Yugoslavia.
Under the title "Queen of Peace," the Madonna’s apparitions and heavenly messages immediately sparked controversy. The communist government accused the Church of plotting a pious fraud to undermine the officially atheistic government—and the local clergy suspected that this was a communist attempt to discredit the Church.
As it turned out, both sides were wrong.
The unshakable faith of the children—and their parish priest, a devout Franciscan who was ultimately jailed and tortured for his refusal to denounce the young visionaries —ignited an international phenomenon and ongoing stream of pilgrimages which has seen more than 60 million souls travel to this out-of-the-way hamlet to better understand the Virgin’s simple, urgent message: “God is real. The world must return to Him before it is too late.”
Production Budget: $250,000