Rijeka, May 27, 2003 (IKA) — The metropolitan archbishop of Rijeka, Ivan Devčić, sent the clergy and the faithful of the Rijeka Archdiocese a message on the occasion of the Pope’s forthcoming third visit to Croatia. At the beginning of his message, the archbishop spoke about the forthcoming celebration of the feast of Pentecost, when the faithful liturgically renew and re-experience the unique event of the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles. “Dear brothers and sisters, we should experience the force of the Holy Spirit especially this year in the center of our archdiocese and metropolis because we shall be celebrating Pentecost together with the Holy Father John Paul II,” emphasized Archbishop Devčić. In his message, the archbishop of Rijeka expresed the hope that this celebration shall yield “the same effects and fruits that the descent of the Holy Spirit bore among Jesus’ first discipls,” and that this year’s Pentecost shall be “a new beginning and new step forward in the courageous and consistent proclamation of Jesus Christ to the people of today” for the Rijeka Archdiocese and the entire Church among the Croatian nation.
“For this to occur,” added the archbishop of Rijeka, “we need prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist on Penetcost, June 8, the year of our Lord 2003, when we shall gather in Rijeka around our Holy Father in the same way that Jesus’ first disciples gathered around Mary, the mother of Jesus, on the eve of the first Pentecost, in prayer and anticipation of the descent of the Holy Spirit. Our faith tells us and our hearts confirm that what occurred in and to the disciples can also occur in and to us if we, like them, are open to the Spirit of God and his gifts. . . .This is a unique opportunity for the renewl of our baptismal and confirmational vows, and thereby the faith that we inherited from our ancestors, and it is our holy duty to transmit this faith to the new generations,” wrote Archbishop Devčić. Quoting from the Pope’s appeal from his apostolic letter Novo Millennio Ineuente (At the Beginning of the Third Millennium) — “‘Let us go forward with hope!’” the archbishop of Rijeka urged the following: “Go to Rijeka, and from there, invigorated by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, go forward to the vast field of modern life that needs to be sown and enriched with the seeds of God’s Word. . . . Go to Rijeka, and from there forward, with the wind of the Holy Spirit in the sails, you priests, religious and nuns, you candidates for the priesthood and religious life, you catechists and all Christian laity, you children and young people, go forward in the power of this year’s Pentecost. I especially urge you, dear families, whom the Holy Father will address directly: Go to Rijeka and from there forward, in new hope and love, faithful to your calling to transmit life and the Christian faith. Let us all go to Pentecost in Rijeka, and proceed from there forward, on the path of holiness,” urged Archbishop Devčić.
In conclusion, the archbishop once again invited the faithful to come and hear the Pope. “Come to us for the celebration of Pentecost with the Pope. Catch the new strong wind of the Holy Spirit and bring it to the open sea of the world in new boats, ready for new fishing! Let us come. Let us allow nothing to discourage us! ‘Let us sail to the sea.’ May the first strokes of our oars be in the direction of the capital city of our beautiful Kvarner region. In anticipation of our historical Pentecost in Rijeka, stand firm in the Lord,” wrote Archbishop Devčić in his message to the faithful on the occasion of the forthcoming visit to Croatia by Pope John Paul II.