Đakovo (IKA/BTU) – Upon receiving news of the death of Pope John Paul II on Saturday, April 2, the bishop of Đakovo and Srijem, Dr. Marin Srakić, sent an encyclical to his priests, religious, nuns and all the faithful in the Đakovo and Srijem Diocese, in which the following is emphasized:

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The news that the pastor of the Universal Church, Pope John Paul II, has died has reverberated throughout the world. We received this news in the aura of the Easter holy days and the belief that Jesus Christ rose from the grave on the third day after his death and ascended to eternal heavenly glory. We believe that death is a transition to the “Father’s house” (cf. John 14, 2), where our communion with the crucified and resurrected Lord shall be completed. We unite at this moment with the entire Church, moreover with the entire world, in feelings of gratitude for his witness and magnanimous pastoral service. Our Croatian nation is permeated with special feelings of the most profound gratitude toward the late Holy Father because he followed the situation in our land with particular attention and understanding, visited our Homeland three times, and constantly demonstrated his solidarity and love. Our Đakovo and Srijem Diocese is grateful to him for the unforgettable encounters with him in Osijek and Đakovo, for his powerful pastoral incentive ‘to live in a manner worthy of the calling to which we are called’ (cf. Eph 4, 1) and for his prayer in our cathedral-basilica in Đakovo for the Lord to strengthen us in faith by which the apostle Peter clung to Christ.
The pastors and rectors of the churches in the Đakovo and Srijem Diocese are instructed to toll the bells of all the parish, filial, monastery and convent churches to proclaim the death of the Holy Father. On Sunday, April 3, at all the celebrations of the Eucharist, using the Mass form of the second Sunday of Easter, there will be a separate prayer for the late Holy Father in the section of the Eucharistic for the departed. At the bishop’s request, all the church bells should toll for ten minutes at the time of the beginning of the Pope’s funeral. On the day of the funeral, the priests are called to celebrate a Requiem Mass according to the form for the Pope, together with the faithful of their communities.”