The Vatican is providing its long-awaited assessment on one of the more contested aspects of Roman Catholicism in recent years: the reported “apparitions” of the Virgin Mary at an otherwise unremarkable village in southern Bosnia.

More than 40 million pilgrims from around the world have flocked to the small village named Medjugorje since 1981.

After 40 years of studies, commissions and contradictions, the Vatican finally approved the spiritual devotion of the faithful at the Marian site at Medjugorje, in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in a document issued on Thursday.

Since the alleged visions, Medjugorje has evolved into a significant pilgrimage destination, attracting over a million visitors each year to the town, which has a population of just over 2,000.

In June 1981, six children aged 10 to 16 claimed that the Virgin Mary appeared to them on a hilltop near the town.

The Marian apparitions in Medjugorje stir considerable controversy among the faithful and those outside the Church. Some are convinced of the authenticity of the events, while others have significant doubts.

Catholic worshipers who claim to have seen and spoken to the Virgin Mary at a Bosnian landmark received mixed messages from the Vatican on Thursday after the Church refused to say whether their visions were real — while still supporting worship at the site.