Medjugorje and the Supernatural : Science, Mysticism, and Extraordinary Religious Experience

In 1981, six young people in the village of Medjugorje, in what was then Yugoslavia (now Bosnia-Herzegovina), reported that the Virgin Mary had appeared to them. The Medjugorge visionaries say that Mary has returned every day since then, bringing them important messages from heaven to convey to the world. Over the past three decades the Medjugorje visionaries have been subjected to extensive medical, psychological, and scientific examination, even while undergoing their visionary experiences. Daniel Klimek analyzes the scientific studies on the visionaries in juxtaposition with the major scholars and debates surrounding religious experience, and concludes that a multidisciplinary approach grants a more holistic and deeper understanding of such extraordinary religious experiences.