Medjugorje Draws Thousands of Pilgrims and Dollars By James Martinez -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medjugorje. Few topics evoke greater passion than the alleged apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to six visionaries in the remote village of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina. But the effects of these reported visions are not limited to the local region. Medjugorje devotees are found worldwide, most notably in the country known for its rich living and equally rich generosity, the United States. Medjugorje has local significance because each fall since 1990, the Bren Center at the University of California, Irvine, has been the site of one of the largest annual Medjugorje Peace Conferences in the U.S. The event is sponsored by the Medjugorje Peace Conference Committee, based in Brea. Its chief organizer, Joan Housack, refused to talk with any member of the media, but there's no question that the conference has been large from the sta