Prosecutor's Office of BiH Took Over the Case of 31-Year-Old Bartłomiej Włodzimierz Krakowiak, Suspected by Police of Inciting Religious Hatred, Damaging Religious Objects, and Causing General Danger.
Police of Hercegovina-Neretva Canton suspect a 31-year-old Polish citizen of a series of incidents that shook Međugorje on Tuesday morning: desecration of the statue of Our Lady on Podbrđe, damage to a smaller statue at the Blue Cross, and setting fire to the outdoor altar of St. James Church. The suspect, Bartłomiej Włodzimierz Krakowiak, born in 1995, was arrested and detained at the Čitluk Police Station, and the Prosecutor's Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina took over the case.
According to the Ministry of Interior statement, the first report of damage to the statue on Podbrđe was received yesterday around 4:30 a.m. Half an hour later, at around 5:00 a.m., police were also notified of a fire at the outdoor altar of St. James Church. A person pouring flammable liquid on the altar and then setting it on fire was recorded by surveillance cameras. The face and hands of the statue of Our Lady were coated with black paint, and offensive inscriptions were written on the pedestal. A smaller statue of Our Lady at the Blue Cross was also damaged, as well as several other places where the faithful gather.
Police officers from Ljubuški handed over the suspect to colleagues in Čitluk, where the criminal investigation was completed. According to Dalmacija News, the Ministry of Interior charges him with three criminal offenses: inciting national, racial, and religious hatred, damaging or destroying religious objects, and causing general danger. For damaging a religious object alone, the prescribed penalty is six months to five years in prison. The suspect will be handed over to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH in Sarajevo for questioning later today. According to local media, he had previously stayed in Međugorje as a pilgrim.
Despite the attack, pilgrims returned to the prayer sites just a few hours later. The statue of Our Lady on Podbrđe was quickly cleaned, and the smaller statue at the Blue Cross was cleaned by wards of the Cenacolo community. The outdoor altar of St. James Church was repaired so quickly that less than 15 hours after the fire, the regular evening prayer program was held on it.
The General Minister of the Order of Friars Minor, Fra Massimo Fusarelli, sent a letter of support to the Herzegovinian Franciscans. "He said that after the desecration of the prayer site, he keeps them in his prayers and called on them to turn the attack into an opportunity for a stronger testimony of peace, reconciliation, and hope," Index.hr reported.
Međugorje, where six visionaries have claimed since 1981 that Our Lady appeared to them, is one of the most visited Catholic pilgrimage sites in the world. In 2024, the Vatican allowed public veneration and organized pilgrimages related to Međugorje, highlighting numerous positive spiritual fruits, although the apparitions themselves have not been declared supernatural.
