Medjugorje, Bosnia: Not Knowing What To Think of the Place

During our recent week-long tour of the Balkans, we spent a couple of hours at the (not officially recognised) Catholic shrine of Medjugorje in Bosnia.  Before visiting this place, I hadn't known what to think of it, and I was still none the wiser afterwards

In general, I found all the religious souvenir shops and fast food joints near the church above and on the way up to the shrine itself rather tacky.  Was also a little bemused to observe the pilgrims' devotion to the metallic statue of Christ below:

While observing this, somebody told me that the devotees believe that the statue bleeds (probably from the shiny part).

However, after a short but rugged ascent over some awkwardly smooth rock formations, we reached the summit of the hill, where the Marian apparitions are said to have taken place, and, here, the Medjugorje experience was a little more impressive:

Here, the pilgrims stood around in more silent or gentle prayer and earnest-looking contemplation, and this was the only place that I felt any sense of peace in Medjugorje.

Thirty years or so ago, when I was only 17 years old, I'd visited the official Catholic shrine of Lourdes in southern France with my grandmother and cousin, Gerard.  There, the sense of mystery and religious awe had been magical, one of the best weeks of my life in retrospect (I just felt a special kind of peace there). 

But, alas, Medjugorje seems to be no Lourdes.  Having said this, it may just be that the place lacks the processes of grandeur and canonisation that official recognition and time bring: