Zagreb, (IKA) – On June 4, Pope Benedict XVI met with public figures in culture, science, politics and sports; representatives of religious communities and members of the diplomatic corps at the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb. Guests began entering the theater at approximately 4:30 p.m., and then entered the auditorium after a security check, which lasted for over an hour.
From 5:45 to 6:05 p.m., accompanied by the harpist Branka Janjanin Magdalenić, the actors Joško Ševo and Renata Sabljak read selected excerpts from the texts of Ivo Vojnović, Petar Zrinski, Ivan Gundulić, Tin Ujević, Josip Prudeus, Antun Gustav Matoš, Josip Pupačić, Jure Franičević Pločar, Slavko Mihalić, Viktor Vida, Vinko Nikolić, Baška Tablet and the Šibenik Prayer.
At 6:05 p.m. at the western entrance to the theater, Pope Benedict XVI was welcomed and greeted by the General Manager of the Croatian National Theater, Ana Lederer; the Directof of the Opera, Branko Mihanović; the Business Manager, Stela Telebuh Stazić and the Head of Protocol, Nataša Janković.
Accompanied by thunderous applause, the Pope entered the theater, where vocalists of the ensemble LADO, conducted by Joško Ćaleta, welcomed him with a folk hymn.

A welcome address was delivered by the President of the Council for Culture of the Croatian Council of Bishops, Archbishop Želimir Puljić of Zadar, who said: “The Croatian National Theater has never had a more beautiful event in its history. Therefore, the directors of the opera, drama and ballet with all the artists and staff are particularly rejoicing. This is a day that the Lord has made, ‘because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts’ (Rom 5, 5). Welcome, Holy Father, to our capital city of Zagreb, to our cultural and national capital. Under various systems, this city was a symbol of the cohesiveness of domestic Croatia and particularly the Croatian diaspora. As the expression ‘next year in Jerusalem’ was woven into the social and religious life of the Jews, thus Croats displaced all over the world have dreamed of coming to their ‘white city of Zagreb.’ This day of June 4, 2011, Zagreb has experienced the great honor that the ‘white Father” has passed through its streets, who has come to visit his children and wants to bless and encourage them.”

The Pope was then greeted by the physician Niko Zurak, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, who said: “Representatives of Croatian scientific and cultural figures are particularly joyful and grateful for this precious meeting with you… The assembled members of the academic community of Croatia are aware of the extent of the role that faith and the Church have had in the history of our nation. We are proud of the artists and scientists who indebted us with their activity and left valuable works in the homeland and abroad, especially those who were active in the Eternal city of Rome.” He particularly mentioned the sculptor Ivan Duknović, the painter Julijo Klović; the philosopher, polyhistorian, humanist and scholar Frane Petrić; the distinguished physician Gjuro Baglivi and the Jesuit Ruđer Bošković. He emphasized the particular engagement by the Church in education through the centuries up to the present. “All of this shows that the Catholic Church and science, education, art and culture collaborated here successfully, in the spirit of Max Planck’s idea that ‘for theologians, everything starts with God, and for scientists everything ends with God,'” concluded Dr. Zurak.
Then Borivoj Martinić Jerčić and Aleksandar Milošev of the Zagreb Soloists performed Duet for Violin and Viola in D Major, Romanza, by the 18th century Dubrovnik composer Ivan Mane Jarnović.

Pope Benedict XVI spoke in the Italian language, which was then translated by Msgr. Juraj Kolarić, President of the Council for Culture of the Archdiocese of Zagreb. The Holy Father first greeted those present and thanked Bishop Puljić and Prof. Zurak for their remarks, as well as the musicians who welcomed him “in the universal language of music.” The Pope continued that the Croatian National Theater is a symbolic place, expressive of “national and cultural identity. For me to come together with you in this place is a further cause of joy in spirit, because the Church is a mystery of communion and always rejoices in communion, in the richness of diversity. The participation of representatives from other Churches and Christian communities, as well as the Jewish and Muslim religions, helps remind us that religion is not a separate area marked off from society. Rather, it is a natural element within society, constantly recalling the vertical dimension: attentive listening to God as the condition for seeking the common good, for seeking justice and reconciliation in the truth.”
The central theme of the Pope’s address was conscience. “This cuts across all the different fields in which you are engaged and it is fundamental for a free and just society, both at national and supranational levels. Naturally, I think of Europe, to which Croatia has always belonged on the historical and cultural plane, and which it is now about to enter on the political and institutional level… If, in keeping with the prevailing modern idea, conscience is reduced to the subjective field to which religion and morality have been banished, then the crisis of the West has no remedy and Europe is destined to collapse in on itself. If, on the other hand, conscience is rediscovered as the place in which to listen to truth and good, the place of responsibility before God and before fellow human beings – in other words, the bulwark against all forms of tyranny – then there is hope for the future… At the heart of all these institutions are men and women, persons, consciences, moved by the power of truth and good. Some examples have been quoted, from among the famous sons and daughters of this land. I would like to single out Father Ruđer Josip Bošković, a Jesuit born in Dubrovnik three hundred years ago on 18 May 1711. He is a good illustration of the happy symbiosis of faith and scholarship, each stimulating the other through research that is at the same time open, diversified and capable of synthesis… In Bošković, there is analysis, there is study of multiple branches of knowledge, but there is also a passion for unity. This is typical of Catholic culture. Hence, the foundation of a Catholic University in Croatia is a sign of hope. I trust that it will help to foster unity among the various fields of contemporary culture, the values and the identity of your people, lending continuity to the fruitful contribution of the Church to the history of the noble Croatian Nation… It is by forming consciences that the Church makes her most specific and valuable contribution to society. It is a contribution that begins in the family and is strongly reinforced in the parish, where infants, children and young people learn to deepen their knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, the ‘great codex’ of European culture,” concluded the Holy Father, thanking those present.

The Pope spoke personally with the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana and All of Italy, Jovan Pavlović; the Chief Rabbi of the Coordination of Jewish Communities in Croatia, Lucian Moše Prelević; the President of the Islamic Community in Croatia, Mufti Ševko Omerbašić; the Speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Luka Bebić; the President of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Academician Zvonko Kusić; the Rector of the University of Zagreb, Prof. Dr. Aleksa Bjeliš; the Ambassador of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Baron Nikola Adamovich de Csespin; the Vice President of the Croatian Paneuropean Union, Prof. Nevenka Nekić; the Alpine skier Ivica Kostelić; the Director of the Croatian Construction Institute (IGH), Prof. Dr. Jure Radić; the geneticist Dr. Tomislav Domazet-Lošo; the Principal of the VIIth Gymnasium in Zagreb, Prof. Ljilja Vokić; the Rector of the University of Rijeka, Prof. Dr. Pero Lučin; the businessman Ivo Sadrić, Librarian and Professor Emeritus of the Catholic Faculty of Theology of the University of Zagreb, Fra Bonaventura Duda; and the Former Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Holy See, Prof. Dr. Emilio Marin.
At the end of the encounter, from the stage of the Croatian National Theater, adorned for this occasion with a processional cross from the Cathedral of St. Lawrence in Trogir, Pope Benedict XVI gave his apostolic blessing to those present and then set off for Ban Jelačić Square in Zagreb, where he was welcomed by a throng of young believers.