Zagreb, (IKA) – In anticipation of the imminent canonization of Mother Teresa, on Thursday, September 1, a major international traveling exhibition devoted to her was opened at LUMSA University in Rome and the Church of St. Blaise in Zagreb.
Opening the exhibition in Zagreb, Auxiliary Bishop Valentin Pozaić quoted the Beata, who said that it is necessary to do small things with great love, and “that is why we are here today, to try to do something beautiful for God, which means something beautiful for man. We are taught to love Jesus and to love man by our honorary citizen of Zagreb, Mother Teresa.”
Those assembled were also addressed by Sr. Dobrila of the Missionaries of Charity, one of the forty Croatian members of that order. Sr. Dobrila spoke about the bond between the saint and Croatia. She mentioned the year 1928, when Mother Teresa departed from Zagreb for her first missionary post, Ireland. She also mentioned 1978, when Mother Teresa returned to Zagreb after fifty years for Zagreb Lent ’78 and, in addition to parishes in Zagreb, also visited several more cities. In this context, Sr. Dobrila cited remarks by the former Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Franjo Kuharić. At the time, the Missionaries of Charity were still not active in Zagreb, so Mother Teresa stayed at the convent of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. The following year, she returned to Zagreb and opened a house of the Missionaries of Charity, the first in Croatia and the 143rd in the world. The house was located in the immediate vicinity of the Zagreb Cathedral. Sr. Dobrila noted that although there was only room for 7–8 people in the house, the first public soup kitchen in Zagreb was opened there. Mother Teresa came to Croatia for the third time in 1986. On that occasion, she visited the National Marian Shrine of Marija Bistrica and, at the invitation of Cardinal Franjo Kuharić, participated in a pilgrimage of the sick. Sr. Dobrila added that in 1995, Mother Teresa received Croatian citizenship, a diplomatic passport and the Grand Order of Queen Jelena with a Sash and Morning Star, presented to her by the Croatian Ambassador to India, H.E. Dr. Drago Štambuk. Mother Teresa was also proclaimed an honorary citizen of the city of Zagreb.
In addition to the nuns of the Missionaries of Charity who work in Zagreb, many of their friends and supporters attended the opening of the exhibition, as well as the Indian Ambassador to Croatia, H.E. Sandeep Kumar; Envoy of the Albanian Ambassador, Ilir Qorri, Second Secretary; the former Croatian Ambassador to India, H.E. Dr. Drago Štambuk; the Rector of the University of Zagreb, Prof. Dr. Damir Boras; and Archpriest Kirko Velinski of the Macedonian Orthodox Church.
The exhibition was organized by the parish of St. Blaise with the support of the City of Zagreb—Municipal Office for Education, Culture and Sports; the Zagreb Tourist Board, the Croatian Photographic Center, Croats Together (Hrvatsko zajedništvo) and the Catholic weekly newspaper Glas Koncila.