The platform for the celebration of the Mass will feature symbols of the Pope, Vatican, Dubrovnik, the Dubrovnik Diocese and the Republic of Croatia

An interview with the Sarajevo Catholic weekly Katolicki tjednik

The master of Papal liturgical celebrations, Bishop Piero Marini, and a member of the Office for Liturgical Ceremonies of the Supreme Pontiff, Msgr. Enrico Viganó, accompanied by the coordinator of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Third Apostolic Visit by Pope John Paul II to Croatia, Dr. Ivan Šaško, visited Osijek on May 14 and Đakovo on May 15

The members of the expanded Church and Government committees for the forthcoming apostolic visit by Pope John Paul II to Croatia held a meeting on May 15 at the headquarters of the Government of the Republic of Croatia at which they spoke about the preparations for the Pope’s visit

The statue of the Holy Father will be unveiled on May 18, the Pope’s birthday, with a blessing and Mass at the open-air church.

Academia Cravatica, in collaboration with the Jewish Community of Zagreb and the company Kravata — Croata, presented a collection of ties featuring motifs from the Jewish religious heritage

“For me, personally, the Pope’s visiting Serbia would not present any problem whatsoever,” said the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan of Zagreb-Ljubljana and all of Italy

The symbol has four basic elements: the recognizable outline of the Banja Luka cathedral, divided into four fields, a dominant cross of the Old Croatian braided design (pleter), the monogram of the Blessed Virgin Mary at the base of the cross, and the Pope’s banner