In the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is located within the former Trappist abbey Marija Zvijezda, the Bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Franjo Komarica, on September 20th, led a Holy Mass on the occasion of the 195th anniversary of the birth of Father Franz Pfanner, the founder of the monastery.
Among others, the Trappist Father Zvonko Topić, the director of Caritas of the Banja Luka Diocese, Msgr. Miljenko Aničić and the Secretary General of the BK BiH, Msgr. Ivo Tomašević, also concelebrated.
During the homily, Bishop Komarica first recalled the difficult days of 1995., when thousands of exiled Croats and other Catholics sought refuge on the Croatian side of the Sava river in Davor. “We are called to remember the dramatic times and events that our generation, our fellow citizens – Catholics and non-Catholics – experienced during the last war”, said Bishop Komarica naming killed priests and monks, destroyed churches and especially remembered former parish priest in Prijedor, rev. Tomislav Matanović and his parents who were killed 25 years ago.
He then spoke about the priest and monk Franz – Franjo Pfanner, a kind of pioneer of spiritual and material development of the city and the entire Banja Luka region.
“The true apostle of Jesus, Franz Pfanner, a priest, Trappist monk, abbot and missionary, was born 195 years ago, on September 21st 1825., in the small town of Langen on Lake Boden in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg. After his ordination in 1850., he was parish priest for several years serving as a diocesan priest. In 1863. he entered the very strict Trappist order (…) and came to us in Bosnia; which was then under the Ottomans and here on the outskirts of Banja Luka in 1869. he founded the first strict religious monastery in Bosnia. He was the head of the monastery community, which in ten years had more than 70 monks. At the invitation of the missionary bishop from South Africa, he went together with 30 monks from Marija Zvijezda and became the first missionary of the so-called Black Africa”, said Bishop Franjo, recalling that in 1981. the process for the beatification of Father Pfanner was initiated, and he called for a “more zealous prayer for his elevation at the honour of the altar.”
At the end of the sermon, Msgr. Komarica announced the beginning of the operation of the Marija Zvijezda Meeting House and the European Centre for Reconciliation, Peace, Interreligious and International Cooperation.
In addition to parishioners and believers who arrived from Croatia, the former Davor municipality mayor Alojz Jakirčević also participated in the Eucharist, who together with his fellow citizens organized the reception of refugees in 1995.
Representatives of the Pan-European Union and the Association of Exiled Banja Luka Croats Nazaret from Zagreb were also present at the Holy Mass.
KT
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Banja Luka – September 20, 2020
