Caritas of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna at the Social and Pastoral Centre of Sv. Josip in Lug near Kiseljak, parish of Gromiljak, organized a ceremonial academy on November 25th on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the cardinal service of the retired Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Vinko Puljić.
The special program, hosted by journalist Monika Ćubela Savić, held in the hall of the City of Bjelovar, brought together numerous representatives of socio-political and religious life in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including, in addition to the celebrants, the following: Metropolitan Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić, Apostolic Nuncio in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, Bishop of Mostar-Duvno and Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan, Msgr. Petar Palić, Bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Željko Majić, Bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Franjo Komarica, retired Archbishop of Zadar, Msgr. Želimir Puljić, Provincial of Bosna Srebrena, OFM Zdravko Dadić, numerous priests, religious men and women of various congregations led by their superiors: sister M. Željka Dramac, sister M. Vinka Bilješko and sister M. Franka Bagarić; as well as the President of HNS, Dr. Dragan Čović, envoy of the Prime Minister of Croatia, Andrej Plenković, State Secretary of the Central State Office for Croats Outside Croatia, Zvonko Milas, President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Lidija Bradara, Ambassador of Croatia to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivan Sabolić, Mayor of Kiseljak, Mladen Ramljak Mišurić and representatives of the City of Bjelovar.
In the opening part of the ceremony, the following congratulated the celebrant: Msgr. Vukšić, Nuncio Chullikatt, retired Archbishop of Zadar, Msgr. Puljić and Dr. Čović. Among other things, Archbishop Vukšić presented to cardinal Puljić congratulations and blessings of Pope Francis that the Holy Father sent on this occasion. Nuncio Chullikatt also congratulated on the Statehood Day of BiH, while Msgr. Puljić sympathetically pointed out that he had always been “that other Puljić” and presented a number of personal connections with the cardinal. Dr. Čović, among other things, recalled their meetings on the occasion of organising the visit of Pope John Paul II to Banja Luka and Pope Francis to Sarajevo.
This was followed by the musical number Ave Maria (Mihael Lorenc) performed by Laura Kozlinger accompanied by the conductor of the Sarajevo National Theatre Opera, Mr. Dario Vučić.
The youngest cardinal in the world
The first lecture entitled Cardinal Puljić’s Love for the Vrhbosna Church was given by the current cathedral parish priest, Msgr. Ivo Tomašević. Since he was the cardinal’s personal secretary for many years, with a special emphasis on the period of the last war and the post-war period, in his presentation he gave a personal account of generally known things about Cardinal Puljić, but he also offered a lot of lesser-known information.
“The guiding thread of Vinko Puljić during his responsible service as the Archbishop of Vrhbosna was the evangelical doctrine and the doctrine of the Church, and his filial obedience to the Holy Father. He accepted the decisions of the Holy Father with full obedience and his guidelines were his guide, especially in times of war when those in power want to kill the truth first and do what others want, even at the cost of someone else’s life”, said, among other things, Msgr. Tomašević, noting that this was also recognized by St. John Paul II. and he personally, not only came to love all the suffering diocesan communities in BiH, but also became their most vocal advocate. Also, Monsignor Tomašević mentioned the admiration of the Italian and world media for the then youngest cardinal in the world, Vinko Puljić, but also spoke about the unpleasant war events and the difficult post-war period when it was necessary to take pastoral care of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese.
This was followed by the musical number Stopama vjere (Along footsteps of faith, rev. Ante Mateljan, music: rev. Šime Marović) performed by the VBS theologians’ choir under the direction of Rev. Ivan Rako.
The establishment of the Interreligious Council (IRC)
The second lecture Cardinal Puljić’s openness towards others and those who are different was given by Professor Emeritus Msgr. Mato Zovkić.
He explained that by the term “others and different” he primarily means the Cardinal’s openness towards everyone in BiH, regardless of religion or ethnicity, “and from a religious perspective, these are primarily Muslims, Orthodox Christians and Jews with whom we live in this ethnically and religiously plural state”. In his presentation, he relied on the material that has been printed on the subject, but also on his own memory, because for 17 years he was Archbishop Puljić’s vicar general and his translator during numerous meetings with foreign visitors, as well as on a considerable number of foreign trips.
Msgr. Zovkić also used a rich selection of interviews given by Cardinal Puljić to numerous domestic and international media, and reminded them that he, among other things, participated in the founding of the Interreligious council (MRV) BiH, numerous interfaith and ecumenical meetings and prayers, and that he never, even in the most difficult war conditions, wanted to leave Sarajevo or relocate the seat of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese.
This was followed by a musical number by Nikša Krpetić, also performed by the VBS seminary choir.
Thankful to God for the Cardinal
The last lecture, entitled Thirty Years of Cardinalship of Vinko Puljić, was given by Dr. Mladen Bevanda, who tried to briefly talk about the cardinal because since 1991, that is, since the arrival of Archbishop Puljić in Sarajevo, and especially during the war years, he had the opportunity to get to know his work from up close. “Congratulating three decades of cardinal service and honour on behalf of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina and personally, I am free to publicly say that we are deeply grateful to God and St. John Paul II. that Croatian Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina have a cardinal for the first time in their long history and attachment to the Roman Catholic Church, to the Holy See, and the Vatican State. This is seen as a first-class, excellent gift and the highest recognition to Metropolitan Archbishop Vinko and all Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He performed the honourable and responsible service of archbishop and cardinal even in the extremely turbulent, apocalyptic war period. This is a time of destruction, uprooting what has been planted, dying, killing, grieving, throwing stones, a time of searching and losing, silence, hatred, war”, said, among other things, Dr. Bevanda, and pointed out that one can truly say about Cardinal Vinko: a man from the people and for the people: “People feel it, love him, sincerely respect him. Wherever he goes, he is welcome because he loves people.”
Address of the celebrant
At the end, the celebrant himself gave his address. He first paraphrased the late Archbishop of Đakovo Ćiril Kos, who once said that “he did not recognize himself twice in his life, once when he was judged, and the second time when he was praised.” The Cardinal then thanked Caritas of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, led by the director, Rev. Mirko Šimić, and sister Kata Ostojić, who decided to organize this academy.
Greeting those present, he emphasized that jubilees are occasions for giving thanks to God and the people with whom he lived on earth. “First of all, I thank God for this day and this grace, to St. Pope John Paul II. who had confidence in my fragility and clothed me with the cardinal’s scarlet; to the College of Cardinals, for me it was a powerful experience of Catholicism; to this local Church of Vrhbosna that readily accepted me; to the Church among the Croats, in a special way to the late Cardinal Franjo Kuharić… it would be a litany if I were to list all those to whom I owe gratitude”, said Cardinal Vinko.
He acknowledged that it was difficult for him that distrust had crept into people and that many wanted to disgust BiH to its inhabitants. He emphasized that he had always used the evangelical maxim “What you do not want others to do to you, do not do to them either”, and vice versa. He emphasized that it pained him that today it is “a shame to be a son of your region and homeland,” especially “when we have before us the fact that we have been exterminated in a large part of our homeland.” He added that his idea of 3P – “trust, forgiveness and reconciliation” did not meet with much response, both in international and domestic circles.
Finally, he returned to the thoughts of the first Archbishop of Vrhbosna, the servant of God Josip Stadler, which he called an excellent life “leitmotif”: “Have a child’s heart towards God, a mother’s heart towards your neighbour, and a judge’s heart towards yourself.”
The festive academy ended with the musical number Agnus Dei (Ivana Lang) performed by Laura Kozlinger accompanied by conductor Vučić, and the gathering continued with a snack in the beautiful ambience of the Caritas centre in Lug.
Let us remind that Cardinal Vinko Puljić was at the head of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese for 31 years. Those three decades, both for him and for this local Church, were extremely challenging and at times, due to wartime suffering, expulsion of believers, demolition of churches and church buildings, failed returns… too difficult.
Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the ministry on January 29th 2022, and he is now spending his retirement days at the St. Joseph Social and Pastoral Centre in Lug, where the academy was organized.
KT
