Vatican News publishes reflection on Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje

Vatican News published a reflection on October 7, 2026, regarding the Marian apparitions at Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje. The piece notes that in many recognized or currently being discerned spiritual experiences, the Virgin Mary often speaks to young people.

The reflection states that while youth or simplicity does not prove a phenomenon is supernatural, these accounts show children can pray, open themselves to God, and undergo life transformations. Lourdes, Fatima, and Medjugorje all direct people toward prayer, conversion, reconciliation, and returning to Christ.

Regarding the events at Lourdes, Bernadette Soubirous, who was 14 years old, reported seeing a "Beautiful Lady" 18 times at the Massabielle grotto in southern France between February 11 and July 16, 1858. The reflection cites the 1957 encyclical Le Pèlerinage de Lourdes, which described Bernadette as a pious and pure girl from a poor, hardworking Christian family.