Be a witness of the grace that was given to you!
In the cathedral of St. Bonaventure in Banja Luka, on March 2nd, during the solemn Eucharist, the archbishop of Vrhbosna, Metropolitan Msgr. Tomo Vukšić ordained the priest of the Mostar-Duvno Diocese, Msgr. Željko Majić.
The bishop of Banja Luka in peace, Msgr. Franjo Komarica and the bishop of Mostar-Duvno and the apostolic administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan, Msgr. Petar Palić, assisted ordination.
Together with them were the archbishop of Vrhbosna in peace, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, Apostolic Nuncio to Bosnia and Herzegovina Francis Assisi Chullikat, Auxiliary Bishop of Banja Luka Msgr. Marko Semren, OFM, Archbishop of Zagreb, Msgr. Dražen Kutleša and about 30 other (arch)bishops from Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Montenegro, Norway and Serbia. The concelebrants were the provincials from Bosnia and Herzegovina, OFM Zdravko Dadić of Bosna Srebrena, OFM Jozo Grbeš of the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina, the Provincial of the Salesians rev. Tihomir Šutalo, as well as about 100 priests led by the Vicar General of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić and the Herzegovina’s dioceses, Msgr. Nikola Menal.
Change of generations
After the entrance procession ended, and before the Holy Mass began, Msgr. Komarica addressed and greeted numerous guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries, especially the relatives and friends of Msgr. Majić as well as the benefactors of the diocese he headed for 35 years. He wished everyone mercy and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ and expressed his gratitude for the solidarity with the local Church and the new bishop. Speaking about some of the bishop’s tasks, he emphasized that people dedicated to God are called to certain functions in the Church, where they stay for a while and then leave, giving way to younger generations of Christians. Reminding that Jesus Christ is the same “yesterday, today and tomorrow”, he emphasized the need to hand over the truth about him to the next generation of Christians. On that trail, he encouraged the priests and believers present to pray for each other, and especially to pray for the new bishop, Msgr. Majić.
At the end, he thanked God for all the graces and gifts that were given to him during his episcopal service, and he invoked the abundance of God’s blessings and the intercession of Blessed Virgin Mary and Bl. Ivan Merz.
One body, multiple limbs
After the gospel was announced, the accompanying presbyters, father Dragan Majić, DI, cousin, and OFM Josip Mioč, parish priest from the local religious community in which the appointed bishop of Banja Luka grew up, accompanied Msgr. Majić to the altar, with which began the ordination ceremony.
In the introductory part, the apostolic nuncio Msgr. Chullikat showed the bull of appointment and read the apostolic order.
This was followed by an appropriate homily entitled Be a witness of the grace that has been given to you!, in which Msgr. Vukšić first interpreted the Holy Mass readings about two sayings of Jesus with which he defined the mission of his disciples, which are the images of salt and light.
“Salt is used to season the dish that is being prepared, because without it, it is not tasty enough. That is, just as salt greatly affects food, changes its taste for the better and makes it more acceptable, so Christ’s disciples were sent to, like yeast, influence people in the world by helping them discover the meaning of life, abandon the ‘unsavoury’ way of life and become better”, he said and testified that the image of light was also very well known in the religious tradition of the people of God.
“Thus the prophet Isaiah already announced that this nation, to the extent that it will be the servant of the Lord, will be appointed as a light to all nations (Is 49:6). Christians, however, are the light of the world in measure and by the measure of their belonging to Christ who said for himself: ‘I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12). That is, the light is where the Word of God is, where Jesus is, who is the Word of God incarnate”, said the archbishop of Vrhbosna, and then he spoke about the Epistle to the Christians of Rome, when the apostle Paul presented the Church in all its greatness and universality and was happy to use image of the human body.
“‘Just as we have many limbs in one body, but they do not all have the same function, so we, many, are one body in Christ, and the individuals are limbs to one another’ (Romans 12:4-5) (…) As life is the mark of the whole body, so living and proclaiming the Gospel are the mark, mission and charism of the Body of Christ as a community, which manifests itself in history in its limbs. At the same time, each member of the Body of Christ, that is, each member of the Church, has the same basic dignity of belonging to that Body”, he said and underlined that the health and efficiency of the entire body depends on the health, cooperation and contribution of each of its limbs.
To teach all nations
In the third part of the sermon, he spoke about the episcopal ministry, that is, the bishops who, as successors of the apostles, receive from the Lord the mission to teach all nations and to preach the gospel to every creature so that all people can achieve salvation through faith, baptism and keeping the commandments (Mt 28, 18-20; Mk 16:15-16; Acts 26:17-18).
“Respected and dear Bishop Željko, in the arrangement of God’s providence, the Church of Christ today entrusts you with the office of head of its honourable part, the community of God’s witnesses, which is named after this city. May God’s blessing always accompany you so that you can be zealous in service and prayer. And since the episcopal ministry also includes prophesying, we pray that it will always be appropriate to the faith (…) That ministry also consists in encouraging the faithful, which you should never forget. It is also in sharing with the needy. You have a lot of experience in that. And keep being generous. Also, in every other form of act of mercy, be joyful”, addressed Msgr. Vukšić the new bishop, pointing out that “according to the episcopal ordination, the Spirit of the Lord will descend on you, because the Lord will anoint you today”.
In the end, he told him to be a witness of the grace that was given to him!
Ordination ceremony
Then followed the very act of episcopal ordination, at the beginning of which Msgr. Majić promised until his death to carry out the service entrusted to him by the apostles, to faithfully and persistently preach the gospel of Christ, to keep the treasure of faith pure and whole, to build and remain permanently in the Church of Christ and in unity with the body of bishops under the rule of the successor of Peter the Apostle, to be obedient to the Holy Father , to care for the holy people of God and to be kind and merciful to the poor and foreigners and to all those in need.
Who is the new bishop of Banja Luka?
Msgr. Majić was born in Drinovci on March 28th, 1963. He completed his philosophical and theological studies in Sarajevo, and was ordained a priest of the Mostar-Duvno Diocese on June 29th, 1988 in the Mostar Cathedral of the Mother of God by Bishop Pavao Žanić. Postgraduate studies in pastoral theology in Rome, with a stay at the International Institute of St. Paul, he attended the Pontifical Lateran University and obtained his master’s degree in June 1995.
After returning from his studies, he performed several pastoral services in Herzegovina, and as vice-rector of the Pontifical Croatian Institute of St. Jerome in Rome he was appointed on June 17th, 2006. During his six-year service, gathering Croatian students in Rome, he prepared four anthologies of their works, the last three he edited together with Dr. rev. Božo Goluž. In 2011, his reflection booklet Father, forgive us! was published, and he also edited, with the cooperation of about 30 priests from Herzegovina, the Guide to the Year of Faith: The Family – the focal point of faith. He was appointed vicar general of the dioceses of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinje-Mrkan in 2012, and since 2019 he has served as the director of Caritas of the dioceses of Herzegovina.
While the ordainee lay on the ground in front of the altar, the bishops, priests, monks, nuns and all the people sang the Litany of All Saints.
The central act of ordination was the laying hands by the main ordinator, Msgr. Vukšić on the head of the ordainee, which was then done by the co-ordinators, Msgr. Komarica and Msgr. Palić, the nuncio, as well as all the arch/bishops present.
During the ordination prayer, an open evangeliary was held over the head of the priest. Then Archbishop Vukšić anointed the head of ordainee Željko with holy chrism oil and gave him an evangeliary, put a bishop’s ring on his hand, and a solideo and mitre on his head. He also handed him a shepherd’s staff as a sign of the bishop. At the end of the ordination ceremony, Bishop Majić exchanged a kiss of peace with all the bishops present.
Afterwards, nuncio Chullikat, Msgr. Kutleša, Cardinal Puljić, the provincial OFM Zdravko and the parish priest and dean of Banja Luka, rev. Vladimir Žarko Ošap, a colleague of the new bishop from his student days. Dinko Periša addressed the new bishop on behalf of the laymen.
At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the new bishop of Banja Luka, accompanied by his ordinators, passed through the cathedral giving the episcopal blessing. Then he addressed the faithful, thanking everyone who came to this celebration. He expressed his “thanks” first to God, and then to his family, to the late father Mihovil and to his mother Matija, who was present at the Holy Mass, to the community in whose aegis he grew up spiritually and as a priest, and in a special way to the Holy Father for the trust he expressed.
The liturgical singing was animated by the Cathedral Choir Marija from Mostar accompanied by a string orchestra, and the conductor was rev. Dragan Filipović.
After the Eucharist, there was a gathering at the common table in the parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Petrićevac, during which many congratulations were sent to the newly ordained Bishop Željko.
The ordination Holy Mass was attended by a delegation of the Serbian Orthodox Church led by vicar bishop Sava of Banja Luka, Mufti of Banja Luka Ismail ef. Smajlović as well as numerous representatives of civil authorities led by Prime Minister of Croatia Andrej Plenković, President of HNS Dragan Čović and Mayor of Banja Luka Draško Stanivuković. In addition to them, there were also Croatian representatives at various levels of government in BiH, as well as ministers and prefects from Croatia and local self-government representatives from the Federation of BiH.
The Eucharistic celebration was also attended by the supreme superiors and provincials of different nun orders: sister Željka Dramac, sister Terezija Pervan, sister Ana Marija Kesten, sister Zdravka Leutar, sister Mariangela Galić, sister Franka Bagarić and sister Vinka Bilješko.
The second episcopal ordination on the territory of the Banja Luka dioces
Episcopal ordination of Msgr. Majić is the second episcopal ordination on the territory of the Banja Luka Diocese since its establishment on July 5th, 1881 by the bull of Pope Leo XIII Ex hac augusta. Its first ordained bishop in Banja Luka was Msgr. Semren.
Until now, the diocese of Banja Luka has been governed by seven bishops (some of them as apostolic administrators).
In chronological order, they are (in parentheses the years of administration of the diocese): Dr. Josip Stadler, apostolic administrator (1882 – 1884), OFM Marijan Marković, apostolic administrator (1884 – 1912), OFM Jozo Garić, resident bishop (1912 – 1946), Dr. Smiljan Franjo Čekada, apostolic administrator (1946 – 1951), Dr. Dragutin Čelik, apostolic administrator (1951 – 1958), Alfred Pichler, resident bishop (1959 – 1989), Msgr. Dr. Franjo Komarica, resident bishop (1989 to 2024).
The brightest figure of this diocese is certainly the Blessed of the Catholic Church, exemplary Catholic layman Dr. Ivan Merz (1896 – 1928), born and raised in Banja Luka, whom St. John Paul II. on June 22nd, 2003, declared blessed in this city, which he visited on that occasion.
And not only that, the diocese of Banja Luka has given the general Church several bishops since its establishment, among them: OFM Alojzije Mišić (1859 – 1942), bishop of Mostar-Duvno; Cardinal Guido Del Mestri (1911 – 1993), papal diplomat; Alfred Pichler (1913 – 1992), bishop of Banja Luka; Dr. Severin Pernek (1924 – 1997), bishop of Dubrovnik; Msgr. Komarica (born 1946), bishop of Banja Luka; cardinal Puljić (born 1945), archbishop of Vrhbosna; Msgr. Berislav Grgić (born in 1960), retired bishop of Tromsø (Norway); Msgr. Semren (born in 1954), auxiliary bishop of Banja Luka.
In the end, let us remind you that this kind of a ceremony has not been seen in Banja Luka since the pilgrimage of St. John Paul II to this city in 2003, and the ordination of the auxiliary bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Semren in 2010. And this time, the number of believers, pilgrims and other guests as well as official guests and media teams showed that this was one of the three biggest and historic events for the Banja Luka diocese in the new millennium.
KT
