Udbina, (IKA) – On August 25, the Burgenland (Gradišćanski (Croat Msgr. Egidije Živković, Bishop of Eisenstadt (Željezno), led the central celebration of the Mass in Udbina commemorating Croatian Martyrs’ Day, attended by a multitude of pilgrims, bishops, religious superiors and priests from Croatia and neighboring countries. In words of welcome, the host bishop, Msgr. Mile Bogović of Gospić-Senj, emphasized that this was the first commemoration after the consecration of the church and that in addition to the Day of Croatian Martyrs, from now on the Church among the Croats will also commemorate the Day of Remembrance for the All Victims of Totalitarian Regimes. This commemoration will always have a religious and ecclesial character: “We will not celebrate anyone’s victory in a conflict between warring sides or any triumph or defeat achieved through warfare but the Cross remains that which we shall praise,” cautioned Bishop Bogović. He said that the presence of the bishop of Burgenland Croats as leader of the commemoration was significant. He also noted that it was from the Burgenland Croats that the initiative came for the theme of this year’s commemorative Mass, the displacement and spiritual unification of the Croats, and for the cross of the bishops of Krbava to be taken as a symbol of their bond with the homeland. We extended this idea to include the entire Croatian diaspora. We are aware that the Burgenland Croats are the beginning and symbol of Croatian emigration. Their migration was a direct consequence of the tragedy of our nation on this field, said Bishop Bogović.

Biskup Živković said in his homily that it is from the pulpit in Udbina, from which “we are sending a message to the entire Croatian nation, from Krbava Field, that we look at our entire history. All our sufferings and execution sites are here. This is a place where we preserve the evidence of martyrdom and rescue models of self-denial from oblivion; we honor those who in an environment of hatred decided for love. We commemorate Croatian martyrs, models of the testimony of love, including Miroslav Bulešić, Sister Žarka Ivasić, sixty-six murdered Herzegovian Franciscans, the Drina Martyrs, Fr. Rafo Kalinić, two priests, Burgenland Croats, the Blessed Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac and those for whom processes have been initiated, for example, the Dominican Dominik Barač. We also remember the many unknown persons who “resisted the call of hatred, evil and revenge, and whose attitude toward life was to choose the good in all circumstances and toward all people.” … “All of them are reasons why Udbina is not only a place of tribulations but also a place of hope. It is an exalted place from which one can see very far—all the way to eternity,” said Msgr. Živković.
“After centuries of suffering, various yokes, blows and whipped from all sides, even from those we did not expect, we dreamed of freedom and died for it. Today, this nation is humiliated and bent over, like a beggar who crawls and knocks at the door of the tired old lady Europe, ready to sacrifice not only his sons but also many things of value and wealth for the crumbs that remain on the tables of her riches and power. We seem to have forgotten the blood that paid for our freedom too quickly. I cannot remain silent about the fact that many today perceive Croatia as a country without hope, full of people overcome by lethargy and despair, from disappointed veterans to young people who see their future everywhere except in the homeland,” said the bishop of Burgenland. He then spoke about the task of the Church at this historic moment.
“If the Church wants to remain faithful to its mission, it must not be silent, it must not give in to the temptations of interests and compromises, it must stand like a prophet on the side of truth, regardless of the price it has to pay. When we call things by their right names, when we say that abortion is murder and not a woman’s right to control her body, that same-sex marriages and adoptions of children by same-sex couples are perversions of human nature and not achievements of modern democracy, that toying with genetics is another attempt for man to play the Creator and not a scientific advance, then they tell us that we are backward and conservative, that we do not understand people and their needs, and that we are obstacles on the path toward an admittedly vague and unclear future,” cautioned Msgr. Živković, and said: “I am afraid of the future, I am afraid of a Europe in whose constitution the name of God is not permitted to be mentioned. I am afraid for a Croatia in whose foundations Christian values would not be incorporated.” He expressed the firm belief that the Church today must be “a prophetic voice, a voice of hope that will tirelessly proclaim to this nation that God not deceived, abandoned or forgotten it.”

“While we remember all our martyrs with love and pride, let us bear in mind the attitude toward life of one of the greatest, the Blessed Cardinal Stepinac, who said the following: ‘For my convictions, I am able to bear not only ridicule, contempt and humiliation but also, since my conscience is clear, I am prepared to die at any moment,'” Bishop Živković added that for years many, fueled by Stepinac’s example, endured the horrors of the Yugoslav prisons, exile and even death. “It was a time—despite unfounded attempts to embellish it—full of false testimonies, executions without courts and accusations without proof,” said Msgr. Živković. He concluded that the Croatian martyrs would send a message today from this holy place for us to be a loud, sincere, unshakable and incorruptible Church and nation, proud of our history and Christian values for which so many have sacrificed and died, for us to guard our homeland and not forget the suffering and blood that paid for our freedom.