Varaždin, (IKA) – The tenth anniversary of the Varaždin Diocese was formally celebrated on September 29 in Varaždin, where the celebration of the Eucharist in the park next to the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was conducted by the archbishop of Zagreb and metropolitan, Cardinal Josip Bozanić. The concelebrants were the host bishop, Msgr. Josip Mrzljak, eleven other bishops and over 200 priests. The participants also included tens of nuns, theology students, seminary students, altar servers and a large number of the faithful from the parishes of the Varaždin Diocese.
The formal celebration began with a large procession from the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary to the park area, where Bishop Josip Mrzljak delivered greetings. In addition to congratulating the main celebrant, Cardinal Bozanić, on the tenth anniversary of his appointment as the archbishop of Zagreb, Bishop Mrzljak personally greeted the bishops of Croatia, including Bishop Antun Škvorčević from the Požega Diocese, also celebrating its tenth anniversary, and the bishops and delegations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Hungary, Austria and Slovenia. He also greeted representatives of other religious communities and secular authorities. The bishop of Varaždin said that ten years ago this young Church sprouted from the centuries old tree of the Zagreb Archdiocese. He wished everyone much light from the Holy Spirit and God’s strength, especially during these days, when many victims from the recent Croatian past are being subjected to degradation. “We share the general disapproval felt by all our citizens due to the most recent verdicts that debase justice and innocent victims, particularly those of Vukovar, the city where I was born,” emphasized Bishop Mrzljak.
Then the general vicar, Msgr. Ivan Godina, read congratulations from Pope Benedict XVI, in which the Holy Father joyfully participated in the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the Varaždin Diocese and expressed the wish that this significant event for the entire diocese would be an incentive for ever more faithful and devoted respect for the sacrament of the Eucharist, so that witness to the faith would be lively, love would be effective and Christian values would provide the fertile Evangelical yeast of the Croatian society. The successor to Peter bestowed a special apostolic blessing upon God’s people of the Varaždin Diocese.
In the homily, Cardinal Bozanić congratulated the local Varaždin Church on its tenth anniversary, which was being celebrated on the Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael by a Holy Mass, representing the ultimate bond between mankind and God by which the Church becomes the body of Christ. He called for gratitude for the past ten years of the local Church and spoke about the recent proclamation of the Year of Youth and the announced National Meeting of Young Catholics in Varaždin.
In the continuation of the homily, Cardinal Bozanić spoke about the sentencing issued by the court of first instance, the International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia in The Hague, of the three accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity at Ovčara in Vukovar: “These days the Croatian faithful, as well as all those who love the truth, are enduring the trial of despondency caused by the position of an earthly court toward crimes against the defenders and the Croatian people in Vukovar sixteen years ago. Again, among our people there has been a unanimous expression of emotion and yearning for the justice that we frequently did not perceive from those who were supposed to promote and safeguard it during the suffering of the Homeland War and afterwards.
“The trampling upon the truth, the rejection of justice and the hardening of the heart before evident crimes are realities that the Croatian person has had to bear in the past decades. The trampling of the truth is a trial that is born at every moment when God is rejected. Have we not encountered this many times before? And yet, we are still surprised every time. When a crime has occurred which is evident to every person who has understanding and heart, which cries out for the truth, which is called by another name and seeks inhuman justification, human tears are devalued, vitality is suffocated and the person is abandoned to the pernicious selfishness that evil begets. Political goals, appraisals, calculations and interests not infrequently forget the tear-stained faces, the tired steps of refugees, the anguished hands from which beauty has been wrenched, the eyes that have been robbed of their spark by violence and, more importantly, they forget the truth. As believers who have survived the horrors of wars and false judgments by courts of various hues, we do not despair. Our trust is in God. However, trust in God also requires responsibility toward the events and histories given to us,” emphasized Cardinal Bozanić, pointing out that each person can be a participant in unjust judgments every time he or she fails to respect the truth. “How many times have lies been repeated about the defense of the Croatian Homeland, about the people who sacrificed themselves? There are those who, at the expense of the suffering of others and the purity of the sacrifices of others, have written their names with the filth of evil. Those who failed to do what they had to do in order to prevent the historical truth about the Croatian sacrifice from being brought into question have participated and continue to participate in this unjust verdict,” emphasized Cardinal Bozanić.
“The trial of the trampling of the truth resounds among us believers when we see that legal provisions do not stop crime, when the organization of the society expressly mocks honesty, work, self denial and genuine patriotism. Therefore, in recent times I have frequently emphasized that the truth must be heard about crimes from the Homeland War, especially those perpetrated against the Croatian people, which are being ignored, as well as the crimes during the previous totalitarian regimes, especially the communist regime, about which there is silence and which greatly lengthen the chain of trampled truths in our social being. Where are our memorial museums to the victims of communism, to the victims of the Homeland War? Such schools and workshops are greatly needed by our young generations so that they can be educated in the love of truth, the love of peace and the love of the homeland. Brothers and sisters, let us not permit these most recent trials to introduce unrest and division in our Croatian community. Let angelic discourse and the truth which direct us to God strengthen our responsibility toward the good and let us safeguard our national pride and dignity,” said the cardinal.
The liturgical singing during the celebration under the direction of Maestro Anđelko Igrec was led by the cathedral choir Chorus Angelicus and a youth choir, accompanied by the Varaždin Tamburitza Orchestra and the organist Božica Tuđan.