The act of consecration began with the ringing of church bells for five minutes..

The Archbishop of Zagreb, Dražen Kutleša, presided over the Eucharistic celebration in the courtyard of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Palmotićeva Street in Zagreb on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Friday. 

Solemn Masses and the consecration of Croatia and its people were also held in other archdioceses and dioceses.

The bishops of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference (CBC/HBK) decided to consecrate the Croatian people and the Croatian homeland to the Sacred Heart of Jesus during the Jubilee Year 2025, at the 69th Plenary Assembly of the CBC, held in Zagreb from November 12 to 14, 2024.

Interestingly, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 11, 1999, marked the centenary of Pope Leo XIII’s consecration of the entire world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The bishops of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference prepared a prayer for the consecration, which was approved at the 70th Plenary Assembly of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference, held in Zagreb on April 30.

In explaining devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (no. 166) recalls that “the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on the Friday following the second Sunday after Pentecost. In addition to the liturgical celebration, many devotional exercises are connected with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Of all devotions, devotion to the Sacred Heart was, and remains, one of the most widespread and popular in the Church”.

Among the many expressions of devotion to the Heart of Christ—including the Litany of the Sacred Heart, acts of reparation, and the practice of the Nine First Fridays—the Church particularly emphasizes personal consecration and the consecration of the family.