Zadar, (IKA) – “We bid farewell to the last of our Conciliar fathers. Msgr. Oblak was the last living Croatian bishop who had participated in the Second Vatican Council. With the Eucharistic and funeral prayers, we bid farewell to a bishop of Stepinac’s era who performed his office at a difficult time in history and who lived to see the beatification of his model, Cardinal Alojzije; we bid farewell to an archbishop who served under Cardinal Kuharić together with other Croatian bishops and led the nation in the great Jubilee of Christianity among the Croats; we bid farewell to a diligent member of the bishops’ conference who lived to see the establishment of the Croatian Conference of Bishops. In the bishops’ conferences, Archbishop Oblak served as the president and member of several commissions, councils and committees. Msgr. Marijan Oblak is the last of the generation of the great Croatian bishops from the difficult years of the communist regime. We thank God for these illustrious pastors who were the pride of our Church and nation, and remain a model for us,” said the archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, during the homily of the Mass he celebrated in the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in Zadar on Tuesday, February 19, at the funeral of the late archbishop emeritus of Zadar, Msgr. Marijan Oblak.
The funeral of the pastor who had administered the Zadar Archdiocese for 27 years (1969-1996), attending to the needs of all classes of people, was attended by this great community in faith, the Church, led by Cardinal Bozanić, the archbishop of Zadar, Msgr. Ivan Prenđa, and concelebrated by 25 bishops, including all the bishops from Croatia, bishops from Bosnia and Herzegovina led by the archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, bishops from Serbia and Montenegro and envoys from Slovenia, the secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Croatia, 200 priests from throughout Croatia, relatives of the deceased, provincials, religious, students of theology, seminarians and thousands of the faithful gathered on the Square of St. Anastasia in front of the cathedral, representatives of the state authorities led by Minister Božidar Kalmet; county, municipal, military and university authorities, and the Serbian Orthodox Paroch of Zadar, Petar Jovanović. Archbishop Oblak was buried in the tomb of the Zadar archbishops in the northern lateral nave of the cathedral, where his predecessor Msgr. Mate Garković lies buried and where the sarcophagus of the relics of St. Anastasia is located.

“Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you, and imitate their faith,” said Cardinal Bozanić, citing the injunction in the Holy Scriptures and explaining that a bishop and the Church are sacramentally united. The Church prays for the bishop and the bishop keeps all that has been entrusted to him in this world and the next in his prayers. Death is a secret that is different from other events and the words we use to describe the course of worldly life, said the cardinal. In his homily, he spoke of the four-fold funeral service for the deceased archbishop: the commemoration of the Passion, the commemoration of the Death, the commemoration of the Resurrection and the commemoration of the Church, which is the fruit of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.
Speaking of the commemoration of the Passion, contained in the Eucharist of Christ, the cardinal said that Archbishop Oblak, together with Jesus, persevered in his trials and sufferings, all the way to those moments when he, like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, found himself alone, practically abandoned by his group of close associates during the years of post-Conciliar turbulence. “Prayer before God and silence before the public, this is the path that a bishop must often take in his trials. However, we remember him not only for the trials in which he persevered but also for the hope that he left us,” said the cardinal. Explaining the “commemoration of the Death, Cardinal Bozanić noted that during the Second World War and the Homeland War, Msgr. Oblak, confronted with ruins and destruction, killing and exile, experienced the ephemeral nature of earthly values. “New horizons are opened to a person enlightened by faith, even under such circumstances. For Christians, death does not mean the end of life but the path of return to God, the compassionate and just Father and Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ, with his truth and the grace of his sacraments, is the way to the return to the Father,” said the cardinal.
Speaking about the “commemoration of the Resurrection,” which is also celebrated in this liturgy, the cardinal pointed out that Msgr. Oblak was brought up in the Glagolitic tradition; he was proud of the liturgical singing of the parish in his birthplace, Veli Rat on Dugi Otok. From childhood, he had inherited a love for the liturgy and the Church, as a place where God and humanity are joined. He always wanted the celebration of the liturgy to be holy and solemn, as witnessed by the liturgical celebrations in the Zadar cathedral. “He was a faithful champion of Conciliar liturgical reform. Even during the period of communist authority, he worked tirelessly to provide the necessary places of worship for the faithful. He rejoiced in every new church with a fatherly love. While others destroyed churches, he nonetheless built them,” said the cardinal.
In reference to the “commemoration of the Church,” the cardinal said that the death and funeral of Archbishop Oblak are a commemoration of the Zadar Church. “I believe that you, dear brothers and sisters, have experienced this in various ways during these days, both as individuals and as the archdiocesan family. In this world, the bishop is a representative of the spiritual and eternal dimensions of a person’s life. Where there is a bishop, there is also the Church. Therefore, a bishop’s death illuminates the mystery of the Pilgrim Church, which in trials and suffering on the earthly path is strengthened by the power of Divine Mercy,” said Cardinal Bozanić. He also mentioned the Great Jubilee of the 50th anniversary of the episcopate of Msgr. Oblak: “On the Feast of St. Anastasia, I visited him in a Zagreb hospital. In conversation, he mentioned that July 6 of this year would mark the 50th anniversary of his episcopal ordination, and added: “I don’t know if I shall live to see it.” The Lord has now called him unto Himself, to become a part of the blessed Resurrection, where in the radiance of the heavenly liturgy he will celebrate the anniversary of his ordination as bishop. Moreover, he who was connected with us in this world will be even closer to us in the community of the heavenly homeland. He prayed here for the Zadar Church; from now on he will intercede for it even more at the throne of God. He who has loved you up to now, from now on will love you even more. This is the mystery of the Church that we love and for which we thank God,” said Cardinal Bozanić. He also recalled the joy with which Msgr. Oblak received words of greeting from the Servant of God Pope John Paul II at the Forum, in the shadow of the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in the year 2003, when the Pope pointed out how Msgr. Oblak had participated with him in the Second Vatican Council. In the homily, the cardinal also mentioned the magnificent 1979 celebration of the Church in Nin; the celebration of the Year of Branimir, prepared by Msgr. Oblak on the occasion of the commemoration of the 13th century of Christianity among the Croats, through which the faith in God in the Catholic Church was confirmed in the national community. “In keeping with the words of Christ’s prayer: ‘Father, … I wish that where I am they may also be with me, that they may see my glory that you gave me,’ grant us great hope and consolation in our time of mourning for our dear pastor. These words call upon us to contemplate death in the light of Christ’s Easter Mystery and to place our hope in Him, who is the Resurrection and Life,” said Cardinal Bozanić, praying for Divine Mercy for Archbishop Marijan, who had received the grace of priesthood and was a member of the college of bishops, that he may be with the saints in the glory of heaven.

At the end of the Mass, words of farewell to Archbishop Oblak were spoken by the archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljić, on behalf of the government authorities by the county prefect of Zadar, Stipe Zrilić; and on behalf of the lay faithful by the rector of the Zadar University, Msgr. Oblak’s nephew, Dr. Ante Uglešić.