Claims that Virgin Mary appeared in Medjugorje are not credible, the Bishop of Bosnia’s southwestern Mostar-Duvno region told the papal special envoy to Medjugorje, ex-Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser.

The southwestern town has been visited by millions since 1981 when six local children said they had seen the Virgin Mary on a nearby hill. Some locals said the apparitions have continued since then.

These claims have yet to be officially verified by the Church.

The Pope had in 2011 named a special committee that looked into the validity of the apparitions, which put together a report and sent it to the Congregation for Catholic Education and then to Pope Francis, who has the final word, but has not yet announced his decision.

“Based on multiple examinations I don’t find even one of the ‘apparitions’ credible, not one message, not one secret, not one parchment,” including the ones that allegedly occurred “in the first seven or ten days in 1981,” the Mostar-Duvno Diocese, headed by Bishop Ratko Peric, said.

Hoser had previously said he was appointed to the town exclusively to strengthen the unity of the Church, spend time with the local clergy and get familiar with the parish and the needs of the pilgrims.

The former Archbishop of Warszawa-Praga began his mission on Sunday. In a sermon, Hoser had said that pilgrims come to Medjugorje “to meet with God, Jesus Christ and his mother, who is in Medjugorje called the Queen of Peace”.

The Vatican is yet to declare its stance on the validity of the phenomena but Hoser had told media previously that it could declare the first seven days of the apparitions in 1981 valid.