Zagreb, (IKA) – The Prime Minister of the Republic of Croatia, Jadranka Kosor, will present Pope Benedict XVI with a crucifix and evangelistary, according to the Public Relations Office of the Croatian Government.
The crucifix, entitled Beginning/Principium, is the work of the academic sculptor Prof. Damir Mataušić. The dimensions of the crucifix are 268 x 230 x 15 mm and it was fashioned in cast polished silver with gold appliqué. The leather case has an engraved plaque. The artist’s basic premise was the Tortured, Crucified and Risen. For this reason, there is no body but only light/spirit replacing the body, implying the Resurrection.
The Prime Minister’s second gift will be a replica of an eleventh-century evangelistary. The manuscript contains the Gospels according to Luke and Ivan. At the beginning of each Gospel is a valuable miniature symbol of the evangelist. This rare and precious manuscript was probably present in Zagreb on the occasion of the establishment of the Diocese of Zagreb in approximately 1094. The original is housed in the Metropolitan Library of the Croatian State Archives in Zagreb. The text is written in Latin on parchment using Carolingian script.