On the feast of St. Catherine of Sienna, on April 29th, in the Archdiocesan Seminary Petar Barbarić in Travnik, under the chairmanship of the Archbishop of Vrhbosna, cardinal Vinko, VIII. interdean meeting in BiH was held.
Arch/bishops Tomo Vukšić, Franjo Komarica and Marko Semren participated; Franciscan Provincials Jozo Marinčić and Miljenko Šteko and Vicars General, members of the Council for the Clergy of the BK BiH and 21 of the 28 deans in total in 29 deaneries in four archdioceses in BiH, participated.
At the beginning, the Cardinal welcomed and thanked that, despite the current coronavirus pandemic and all life’s challenges, they gathered for their eighth meeting, and briefly reminded of the course of the previous Interdepartmental meeting held at the same place on March 5th 2020.
The participants then listened to a lecture by Professor Emeritus of the KBF of the University of Sarajevo, Msgr. Mate Zovkić, entitled Witnesses of the Word of God modelled on St. Jerome. Msgr. Zovkić directed those present to the booklet printed by BK BiH in the Year of the Word of God and to his text about Jerome as a translator of the Book of Tobias.
Referring to the message of the BK BiH for the Year of the Word of God, which began at the liturgical memorial of St. Jerome, on September 30th 2020. and will end on the same day in 2021., mentioned that the bishops invited priests to study the Scriptures more deeply with the faithful communities in that year. Addressing the priests, he stressed the importance of conscientiously preparing homilies.
After the presentation, the deans briefly presented the celebration of the Year of the Word of God in their deaneries. Numerous initiatives and actions were mentioned which, despite the pandemic, were launched in numerous parishes such as: reading the Scriptures, transcribing and presenting transcribed passages of the Bible, praying the Canonical hours together, contemplating God’s word during adoration before the Most Holy…
They also talked about the initiatives taken in accordance with the decision to connect the deaneries: Kreševo with Trebinje, Rama with Bihać, Sarajevo with Mostar, Sutjeska with Ljubuški, Bugojno with Grude, Travnik with Stolac, Žepše with Bosanska Gradiška and Prnjavor deanery, Tuzla with Čapljina, Jajce with Brčko, Usora with Duvno, Derventa with Posušje, Dobor with Široki Brijeg, Šamac with Livano and Broćno/Brotnjo with Banja Luka Deanery. It was stated that the pandemic stopped the already agreed meetings, first of all with the priests, and then with the believers between the mentioned deaneries.
The participants were informed that on Solidarity Week, March 7th 2021., a collection of 178,344.95 KM was collected in all dioceses in BiH, and that these funds will be divided into 97 parishes with less than 200 believers in BiH.
In the end, joy was expressed that priests hold numerous meetings during the pandemic and come to the aid of a brother suffering from coronavirus or other diseases so that the faithful in these parishes would not be left without Sunday and other liturgical celebrations.
Holy Mass as part of the interdeanery meeting
In the seminary church of St. Aloysius of Gonzaga in Travnik on the same day, a Holy Mass was celebrated led by cardinal Puljić, together with other members of the BK BiH and in the concelebration of the present deans and other priests. The words of welcome were given by the rector of the seminary and the director of KŠC Petar Barbarić venerable Željko Marić.
In his sermon, the Cardinal spoke about the life of St. Catherine of Siena. “Despite being illiterate, she left behind 380 letters that she made with the help of others, and sent them to her mother, politicians, leaders, the Pope”, he said, adding that he was personally surprised by their content. He reminded that she was the patroness of Italy and that in 1989. St. John Paul II proclaimed her as a co-protector of Europe. Emphasizing that the Old Continent is slowly forgetting its Christian roots, he encouraged those present to be imbued with the spirit of St. Catherine.
Liturgical singing was animated on the organ by rev. Mario Oršolić.
KT
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Travnik – April 30, 2021
