The International Youth Festival Mladifest met for the first week of August again in Medjugorje. The festival has been going for thirty years now. After the World Youth Day is the second largest regular Catholic gathering of youth. This year, despite Covid difficulties, there were some 50,000 youth and 500 priests, as has been the case in recent years. This year Pope Francis sent a message to attendees, encouraging them to “follow Christ with courage and joy.” It was a blessing he started in 2020. In both letters of encouragement he made no mention of the controversial apparitions at Medjugorje which are still under investigation by a Vatican commission.