In the cathedral in Sarajevo, on Sunday, July 1st, Pope’s day was marked with a holy mass led by apostolic nuncio in BiH Msgr. Luigi Pezzuto, in concelebration with Vinko cardinal Puljić. The homily was led by Msgr. Marko Semren, the auxiliary bishop of Banja Luka.
Together with them there were others concelebrating: Msgr. Ratko Perić, bishop of Mostar-Duvno diocese and the apostolic manager of Mrkan; Msgr. Franjo Komarica, the bishop of Banja Luka; Msgr. Georg Batzing, bishop of Limburg and the Provincial of Franciscan province of Herzegovina OFM Miljenko Šteko and Provincial of Franciscan province of Bosna Srebrena OFM Jozo Marinčić, together with 10 more priests.
At the beginning, by pointing out that the day of „Peter of our days“ is being marked, Archbishop Vinko greeted all present, bishops, provincials, and in a special way Msgr. Georg from Limburg’s diocese and his delegation.
Appropriate homily during the Mass celebration was said by Msgr. Semren who firstly pointed out that Pope’s day is the day that Catholic church remembers the day of choosing pope Francis for a Pope, March 13th, 2013., and official beginning of his job as the shepherd of the Church.
„He calls man to be credible; invites politicians to take care of the dignity of man; he calls the Church to be credible – hope to young people should be restored, help the elderly, to open up to the future, to spread love, to include the excluded, to preach peace and be for the poor; calls bishops and priests to proclaim the Good News to the Shepherd; he calls monks and nuns to be live witnesses of the Gospel; he calls the families to be a school of faith“, are the words that bishop Marko explained the efforts of today’s Pope.
He also spoke about the Holy Father who visited the barracks in Favela Varginha during the World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro where lives Amara Olivier, a sick and hungry woman who reconciled with the fact that she could not leave any trace in the lives of other people until that great visit. „She thought her heart would stop. She had to go to the doctor, but to the doctor brought by Pope Francis. Journalist Englisch points out that this joint life with the poor, gives Pope Francis the power to change the whole Church for the better because the poor have hearts for others. Jorge Mario Bergoglio actually remained the parish priest of the street because he does not feel like a powerful bishop of Rome, but as a little parish priest“, said Msgr. Semren emphasizing that the authority of the Church is growing with the ability to promote the dignity of the others.
Before the end of the Mass celebration, Msgr. Pezzuto especially thanked cardinal Puljić who gave the cathedral to the people that came to celebrate Holy Mass for this celebration.
The seminarians from the Vrhbosna seminary sang during the Mass celebration.
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Translated by: Ksenija Ninić
