Under the presidency of the Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Metropolitan and Apostolic Administrator of the Military Ordinariate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić, president of the Bishop’s Conference (BK) BiH, in the building of the Bishop’s Ordinariate in Banja Luka on July 16th and 17th, the 90th regular session of the BK BiH was held.
All members of the Bishops’ Conference of BiH participated: the vice-president of the BK BiH, the bishop of Mostar-Duvno and the apostolic administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan, Msgr. Petar Palić, then the host, the bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Željko Majić, Apostolic Visitor with a special role for the parish of Međugorje, Archbishop Aldo Cavalli, Bishop of Banja Luka in peace, Msgr. Franjo Komarica and the auxiliary bishop of Banja Luka in peace, Msgr. Marko Semren. The delegates of the Croatian and Slovenian bishops’ conference also participated: the bishop of Požega, Msgr. Ivo Martinović and the bishop from Murska Sobota and the vice-president of the SBK, Msgr. Peter Stumpf.
At the beginning of the session, the bishops were joined by the apostolic nuncio in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, who informed them of important information regarding the celebration of the Jubilee in 2025.
Various reports
During the two-day session, the bishops accepted numerous reports, agreed on different dates and planned time frames for different appointments in institutions where mandates are expiring.
The members of the BK BiH adopted the Report of the Supervisory Council of Caritas BiH on the activities of Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2023. They also heard the annual report on the activities of Caritas BiH in the last year. They were familiarized with the implementation of various activities, actions, projects and programs, as well as with the new five-year Strategic Plan of Caritas BiH. They thanked the workers of Caritas BiH, diocesan Caritas and charity workers of other levels through whom the Church in a special way shows closeness and care for people in need and thus achieve evangelical love for the neighbour in a concrete way.
During the session, the bishops reflected on their campaign Ad limina apostolorum from May 3rd to 8th in Rome, which began with the celebration of Holy Mass at the tomb of the Apostle Peter. They are especially grateful to the Holy Father for a very nice and open meeting, as well as to the state secretary, Cardinal Pietro Parolin and other cardinals and archbishops and their associates for a friendly and fraternal reception in their offices. They are grateful to God that every day they had the opportunity to celebrate Holy Masses in the basilicas of St. Paul outside the walls, St. Mary the Great and St. John Lateran, then in the Croatian Church of St. Jerome in Rome with the participation of the Croatian Roman community and in the Aracoeli church where the tomb of Queen Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić is located, and on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of her birth. And on this occasion, the members of the BK BiH thanked rev. Marko Đurin, rector of the Pontifical Croatian Institute of St. Jerome in Rome, and all his associates for exceptional hospitality and great services on the occasion of their campaign Ad limina apostolorum.
The new secretary of the BK BiH
The bishops elected the priest of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, Rev. Bojan Ivešić as the new general secretary of the BK BiH and editor-in-chief of the Catholic Press Agency for a five-year term, and he will take over the position until the beginning of September 2024. They warmly thanked Msgr. Ivo Tomašević for faithfully performing the duties of general secretary during the last 20 years and wished him God’s blessings in his new church ministry and priestly life.
It was agreed that the Council for the Family of the BK BiH and the Council for the Laity of the BK BiH would be united into the Council for the Laity, Family and Life of the BK BiH with the Youth Committee of that Council, and that the Bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Majić will take over the presidency of this Council, which until now was chaired by Msgr. Semren. Bishop Željko will also replace Msgr. Semren in other bodies of BK BiH as well.
Since the regular five-year mandates of numerous council and commission members will soon expire, the bishops elected members of these bodies in a new composition.
Family day
The members of the BK BiH invited the priests, especially those who work in pastoral care, as well as their associates, to put in a special way the focus of Family Day in BiH on Sunday, July 28th, in their communities in all dioceses in BiH family under the motto Family to meet the Jubilee 2025. They also encouraged the parishioners of Kupres and the parishes of the Bugojno, Duvno and Livno deaneries, as well as beyond, to come to the Church of the Holy Family in Kupres on the mentioned Sundays for the Eucharistic celebration at 11:00 a.m., as well as the day before at Holy Mass on the eve before, at 19:00 h. They also invited all married couples celebrating their 25th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of marriage to register in their parishes to participate in the Eucharistic celebration in Kupres.
At the same time, they thanked the media, which in their programs promote family togetherness as a blessed place for growth in faith and love.
Creation of a code of ethics
The bishops were informed about the preparations for the celebration of the 1 100th anniversary of the national Split church councils at the time of the Croatian King Tomislav, at the level of the HBK and the BK BiH and gave the necessary guidelines.
They decided that, during the deanery and other priestly meetings, the clergy in their dioceses will be made aware of the provisions of individual episcopal conferences regarding the appearance of clerics, members of institutions of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life and individual lay believers in the media with the aim of creating a code of ethics for the area of Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Celebrated patron saint of Banja Luka Diocese
On the memorial day of St. Bonaventure, on July 15th, the patron saint of the Banja Luka diocese and this table church was solemnly celebrated in the Banja Luka cathedral. The Eucharistic celebration was led by Msgr. Palić together with all the members of the BK BiH and the delegate bishops who participated in the session, as well as 37 priests, among whom was the provincial of the Franciscan province of Bosna Srebrena, OFM Zdravko Dadić.
In the appropriate sermon, Bishop Petar briefly recalled the life of St. Bonaventure and three main lessons from his life: “First, inspired St. Francis of Assisi, focused exclusively on Christ. Secondly, St. Bonaventure teaches us how to seek and find wisdom. Thirdly, it teaches us how to combine contemplation and action.” Aware of how today’s man lives in “great stress” and how he is overwhelmed by fast information, he urged to “guard the heart and soul from superficial stories and unimportant gossip” because this creates “congenial ground for wisdom”.
“What is so beautiful about Bonaventure is that, in the midst of the challenges and problems he faced, he remained deeply committed to contemplation, deep and constant prayer. This did not diminish his effectiveness in fulfilling difficult responsibilities, but instead enabled him to make decisions based on reflection and prayer”, said Bishop Petar, concluding that this saint is a model of reflection and action for every believer.
After the Holy Mass celebration, the gathering continued in front of the cathedral.
Press conference
On July 17th, a press conference was held in the premises of the Bishop’s Ordinariate in Banja Luka. After the press release was read, Archbishop Vukšić and Bishop Majić gave their overview, and then they answered the journalist’s questions.
So, Archbishop Tomo spoke about the activities of Caritas, and how in BiH about 18 000 people come to get a hot meal in public kitchens every day. “We would like this image to disappear as soon as possible, that is, to reduce the number of people asking for help and coming to other people’s doors, knocking and begging to have something to eat every day”, said, among other things, Msgr. Vukšić.
Bishop Majić also spoke about the work of Caritas and the relationship between the government and the Church, stressing the importance of mutual respect and honest conversations with representatives of the government. “I am glad to establish a level of trust, openness and to be aware that there are numerous issues that need to be resolved when it comes to the institution of the Catholic Church, as well as the Catholic community and the Croatian people in these areas”, concluded the Bishop of Banja Luka.
KT
