ARTICLES
January 2003 ARTICLES
Contents © 2003
by Jim Holman.
All rights reserved.
AT MEDJUGORJE, THE SUN SPINS EVERY DAY
The alleged apparitions at Medjugorje have given rise to a spiritual industry of retreats, conferences that feature such figures as Father Jozo Zovko. And, it seems, the industry has been profitable. This was apparent from a conversation I had with a representative from Send Your Spirit Medjugorje Center in Massachusetts, which handles travel arrangements to Medjurgorje.
When I asked the representative when was the best time to go to Medjugorje, the man replied, jovially, "in the summer. It's hot out there, it's a Mediterranean climate." The visionaries, he said, no longer live in Medjugorje year round. They "are there May through September; they all have summer homes there."
In addition to running a travel agency, Send Your Spirit Medjugorje Center also sells books, videos, and statues. "We pick up a lot of Italian statutes in Medjugorje cheap," my telephone interlocutor confided to me. "They must be smuggling them in. The Daughters of Saint Paul sell the same statues for a lot more than I do. I can pick them up cheap in Medjugorje. It's a real good situation." The weak global economy has affected the Medjugorje tourism industry, he noted. "Business has dropped considerably. Pilgrimages are way, way down. We took an awful beating after 9/11. We haven't recovered. People are afraid to fly."
"Ethnic groups are a good source of business," he continued. "We take a lot of Filipinos from St. Patrick's in San Francisco. Also, we have a lot of Portuguese from Rhode Island." Although this industry may be currently in a slump, the travel groups are still hopeful. "At Fatima the sun spun once; at Medjugorje the sun spins everyday," my source noted.