As the service continues below, a few people in the choir loft kneel near a young man named
Ivan Dragejevic.
It is 5.40 p.m. and Ivan is speaking to someone only he sees.
The people around him watch as he mouths words soundlessly.
They fervently believe that they are witnessing a miracle, a divine revelation that will have
great impact on the world.
They believe that Ivan and several other young visionaries in Medjugorje converse each day
with the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ.
Pilgrims from all over the world constantly travel this road.
Our bus ride took us along the coast past Dubrovnik, the last leg of an exhausting 26
hour journey.
We are traveling with a group of about 50 American pilgrims, part of a religious organization
called Caritas from Birmingham, Alabama.
Unusual things seem to be happening.
A set of rosary beads belonging to Judy Duchesne, a pilgrim from Michigan, are said to have
suddenly changed color.
I thought maybe I was seeing things I don't have my glasses on.
The pearls changed color inside.
Yes, the pearls changed color.
From white?
From this color.
And this is the color we have now.
What do you make of it?
There are gifts for being here, for making the effort.
And to show off, to say, look what Mary can do for you.
Other pilgrims make similar observations.
Victoria Pfeiffer's son noticed the change as soon as they arrived in Yugoslavia.
He said it's turned gold and it's been silver for two years and it was gold.
How do you explain that?
I can't.
To those who have faith, no explanation is necessary.
To those who don't have faith, no explanation is satisfactory.
I just feel in awe of it.
Then at a rest stop on the route near the Adriatic Sea, the group witnesses another
seemingly unexplainable phenomenon.
I see it.
It's a double image now.
Look at that.
The sun is coming closer.
I see it.
Can you see the cross?
It's vibrating.
It's like a rainbow all around me.
They stare into the five o'clock sun for several minutes without hurting their eyes.
And it's got an orange cloud around it.
One of the pilgrims, Frank Tortorigi, has his doubts.
You've been looking at it for a pretty good while.
I read the last number on that car.
D30289.
Frank, tell me what happened.
What did you just see?
I can't look at it without it putting a spot in my eyes for any length of time.
She did.
What do you make of that?
I don't know.
But you're a little skeptical, aren't you?
Tell me.
Come on.
Almost everyone else on the bus accepts these curious events as small miracles, bestowed
by the Virgin Mary.
There is a steadily growing sense of anticipation as we near the mountains and the village of
Medigorye.
Franciscan priest Svetozar Kraljevic has been close to the events here from the beginning.
If a person is courageous enough to begin a pilgrimage and to come to this place, that
is the time when God creates us again and again, and we become new human beings.
The most important thing to do is to build community, to build family.
Father Ken Roberts is the leader of the Caritas Group.
These American pilgrims have been drawn to this place for many reasons.
I'm Elaine Jimbrani from Birmingham and I'm here with my family.
This is my third trip here and I guess that it's that feeling of peace that keeps bringing
me back.
My name is Sherry Jimbrani, I'm 20 years old and I do believe that there is something going
on over here and it's, you know, just touches my life.
I'm Charles James, Birmingham, Alabama.
And why did I come here?
I just keep coming, I don't know.
I'm addicted, that's right, I believe in it.
Frank told me to read you from Birmingham.
That's it Frank?
That's it.
Okay.
Unless y'all want to know what's happened to me so far.
I rode airplanes and buses and froze to death.
Still most of these pilgrims have come here in pursuit of a more spiritual life.
That is Frank.
Lord God, Father, this is the first day of our pilgrimage in Medjugorje.
For them, just being in this valley has deep meaning.
The less we think we need it, the more we do.
The apparitions here in Medjugorje are said to have begun June 24th, 1981.
It was about four o'clock in the afternoon and two young girls were walking along this
road, 15-year-old Ivanka and her friend Mariana, 16 years old.
Ivanka, who was mourning the death of her mother at the time, happened to look up at
the hillside and she says she saw in the distance, about 200 yards away, where that cross now
stands today, the shining figure of a woman.
She turned to her friend and said, look Mariana, the Madonna.
Within a day, the two girls had shared the secret with four of their friends who also
saw the vision.
Understandably, Ivan was startled by the experience.
Although I was distant from her, meeting her frightened me.
But the shock of this experience awakened me to a new life.
On the second day, 17-year-old Vicka Ivankovic says the visionaries were drawn to the Madonna.
And we went up the hill.
We did not walk.
It felt as if we were flying through the air.
We went across so many rocks and thorns, but nothing scratched us, not a scratch.
And we found ourselves beside our lady.
We were with her on the hill.
And those of us who were more courageous talked to her.
I did not say anything.
The children were not outwardly exceptional in any way.
Ten-year-old Jakov Kolow was the youngest.
At the beginning, we asked ourselves why we were chosen, because we are not different
from others.
Once we asked our lady, and she said she is not after the best.
The difficult climb to the site of the first apparition is filled with symbolism.
Finding the steep, rocky path is a way of doing penance, atonement for past sins.
Some of the pilgrims are beginning to be emotionally affected.
For them, this inhospitable, rock-strewn hillside is a holy place.
About seven years ago, the crowds who believed the story told by the children and who gathered
here with them risked persecution, even imprisonment by the authorities.
In the summer of 1981, the Yugoslav police, convinced that they were confronted with a
case of mass hysteria, banned the gatherings and attempted to arrest the children.
The visionaries fled through the vineyards towards St. James Church.
The pastor hid them in the church, and from then on, the apparitions would take place
there.
Despite the crackdown, huge numbers of pilgrims, desperate for a sign which would confirm their
faith, assembled every day at 5.30 outside the rectory, where the visionaries were now
said to be receiving the apparitions.
Every day, the children praying together, then falling to their knees, at the same moment,
their voices becoming inaudible.
We see Our Lady in three dimensions.
We talk with Her.
We see Her as I see you now.
She is wearing a gold dress, light veil, black hair.
And she is supported in a cloud, and for Christmas, she comes with little Jesus, little baby Jesus,
in her arms.
Understandably, many people remained suspicious.
They thought the youngsters could be lying or deluding themselves.
The children were subjected to a battery of psychological and physical tests, measuring
brain waves, heartbeat, and involuntary eye movements during the apparitions.
The head scientist was Professor Henri Joyeux from the prestigious Montpellier University
in France.
He'd arrived prepared to discredit the apparitions.
He left convinced that the visionaries were not lying or having hallucinations.
The clinical observations made on these visionaries permit us to affirm that these children are
perfectly normal and of sound mind and body.
The phenomenon reveals itself as being scientifically inexplicable.
Skeptics say there is another possible explanation.
They point to the new prosperity in this economically depressed region as the real motive behind
the children's extraordinary claims.
A building boom is taking place in Medjugorje to accommodate the hordes of pilgrims.
The only paved road is lined with kiosks selling rosaries, statues, and t-shirts.
Even some church leaders have jokingly referred to Mary as Our Lady of Foreign Currency.
But if economic profit is the reason for all of this, the visionaries themselves do not
appear to have benefited financially at all.
A lot of people who see this report are going to have trouble believing all of this, that
the living, breathing Madonna is speaking to the world through you.
I do not like to convince them, but it is my duty to convey to other people what I am
told by Our Lady.
The rest depends on each individual heart, how they are going to accept the messages
that Our Lady gives.
Now that was part one, and Stone Phillips will continue with the impact of Medjugorje
on the Americans from Birmingham right after this.
Americans, but the way some were affected was astonishing in itself.
Stone Phillips continues with this journey to faith.
The people of this valley have always been devoutly religious.
In 1933, they erected a huge concrete cross on top of a mountain to commemorate Christ's
death.
Now, throughout much of the year, many thousands of pilgrims climb the mountain to pray together
in many languages.
Since 1981, more than 11 million pilgrims have come here.
It is not always so crowded.
When the Caritas group visited Cross Mountain, it was a quiet place for prayer and meditation.
My wife had died.
I was crying all the time, suffering, and I was lonely.
I was really lonely, and I didn't know what to do.
This was an opportunity to do something, so I came over here.
When I do pray, it's a lot more meaningful, peaceful, and calm, quiet.
I felt like there was no worry in the world.
It was beautiful.
It was very touching.
Feel closer to God?
Yes, closer to God.
Frank, the skeptic, appears to be softening his attitude.
Frank, a lot of people in the group say they're praying for you.
Praying for me.
Praying for you.
Praying for you, too.
It's real heavy.
You know, it's something I've never experienced before, and I don't believe any of us have
them.
The ones who have been here for the first time, you know.
But there's got to be something to it.
There's got to be.
Once she appears, we can always tell by the expression on her face.
What are the messages that the young seers relate from the Blessed Virgin Mary?
The same as you are now.
Vitska spends most of every day meeting with endless groups of pilgrims who pack the yard
in front of her home, thirsting for insight.
Does anyone here have any questions?
Vitska claims the Virgin Mary showed her purgatory, hell, and heaven.
Heaven, she described, is a huge, endless space with a great light that doesn't exist
on the Earth, such kind of light.
You can see many people walking, praying, and singing, and they're all the same age.
They seem to be 33 years old, and they all dress only in three colors.
That's gray, pink, and yellow.
And above their heads, there are little angels flying.
This description may sound simplistic, like a Sunday school story, to some nonbelievers,
even laughable.
But theologians say that religious images are always affected by culture and religious
training.
These visionaries were brought up in a strong Catholic environment, where signs and miracles
are accepted as part of the religious life.
Vitska and some of the other visionaries regularly write the messages down on scraps of paper.
We give glory to God, to our Father, and thank him for everything that he gives us during
the day, so that our prayer becomes a joy.
The main messages of Our Lady are prayer, conversion, fasting, penance, and peace.
These messages touch the pilgrims in very personal ways.
Charlie James was married 39 years.
He's come here four times in the past three years since his wife passed away.
Have you found an answer?
Yes, I have, because I know now that one day maybe I'll see her again.
I pray a lot for her.
I pray for myself that I can be worthy to be with her someday.
Sherry Jambroni came here to deal with some difficult family problems.
My dad, he used to gamble, he used to make bets on football games and such, and we used
to go to church, and he wouldn't go to church.
I come up with something like, I got a headache, or I don't feel like going, you know, or I
make up some excuse, or because I didn't have time to make my bets.
See, right there I was putting that before God, that was my God.
Sam also drank too much.
He says that coming here with his family has helped him clarify what's important in life.
We were really struck this week by your daughter Sherry's faith and the strength of her belief.
Has that influenced you?
Yes, very much.
Since I've been here, she's been a lot closer to me.
She comes up and kisses me, hugs me, every minute she gets.
We've gotten closer together and everything, and it's just my dad, I'm not close to my
dad, and he says his whole life's changed, and it just makes me want to change even more.
Toward the end of their week-long stay, the group feels honored to receive a rare private
audience with Vicka in a field between the mountains.
In spite of the rain, it's a chance to hear more about the messages and to ask Vicka to
intercede on their behalf with the Virgin Mother.
For many, this is the emotional climax of the pilgrimage.
Would you please tell her, thank her for us for coming out in this weather and being with
us, and that we love her, tell her we love her.
Vicka leads the group in a short prayer and places her hands on Sam Giambrone's head.
For Sam, the man who once avoided church at all costs, it becomes a deeply moving spiritual
moment.
I felt warmth all through my body.
It became hotter, this feeling was like I was being lifted, and I was off balance.
I couldn't walk straight.
I don't know what caused me to be that way.
Sam, we've watched this whole scene, and I'm wondering about this moment, what was it like
for you?
This moment was beautiful, the most beautiful experience I've ever had.
What a wonderful moment, wasn't it?
I said, is this a cry of joy or sadness?
And he said joy.
And that's all I wanted to know.
I'm sorry, Jesus.
I'm sorry.
Oh, I can't help it.
Oh.
We pray for God's glory.
May his kingdom come to us.
After one last morning church service, it is time to leave to begin the long journey home.
Some of the group have been affected dramatically by this pilgrimage.
Others less so.
I would love to go back to the United States and spread and show good examples so that
everyone will be converted.
How are you feeling about yourself here?
I feel a lot better, but I haven't been touched like the rest of these other people.
I feel real good about myself.
I usually do.
These pilgrims, like the thousands who have journeyed here before them, will spread the
simple essential messages of the need for prayer, fasting, and a more spiritual life.
Ultimately, the only way to judge the validity of this spiritual experience is by its consequences,
by the lasting positive impact it has on people's lives.
And the pilgrimage doesn't begin here and doesn't end here.
But if a person does experience something here, the person will go back to his home
and God will continue speaking to everyone.
And he does that.
Stone, the Vatican has not pronounced this real as yet, has it?
It has not.
The Vatican has taken a cautious, wait and see position on this.
And we should point out that the local bishop in Yugoslavia does not believe it.
Now, you were there as a reporter, not as a pilgrim.
But did any of this get to you?
Do you believe any of it?
Well, Hugh, I'm skeptical.
I looked into the sun, for instance, alongside the pilgrims and I did not see the sign of
the cross.
I did see a sort of spinning disk there, but it didn't strike me as supernatural, sort
of a natural reaction by the eye.
I do want to say, though, that one church leader over there said to me privately that
this business with the sun or with the rosary beads changing color or even the visions are
in the end irrelevant, that what's important is the message, the message of peace.
Thank you, Stone.