Zagreb, (IKA) – On Thursday, December 14, the archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, blessed the restored portal of the Zagreb cathedral. The participants in the ceremony on the occasion of the completion of the restoration of the portal included the apostolic nuncio in the Republic of Croatia, Archbishop Francisco Javier Lozano, Auxiliary Bishop Josip Mrzljak of Zagreb, canons, prebendaries, seminarians and many of the faithful. The liturgy of the Light was conducted in front of the restored portal, which was illuminated after it was blessed by Cardinal Bozanić. Expressing admiration for the work of the sculptor, stone-cutter, artist and builder, he observed that because the portal had been covered for many years, many people have forgotten how beautiful and symbolic this entrance to the Zagreb cathedral is, said the cardinal in his introductory remarks. Its brilliance has been restored, thanks to the goodness and unselfish contributions of the faithful. We hear a voice that says: You who enter, gaze heavenward. Concluding his remarks, Cardinal Bozanić said that for each Christian, entering the doors of a church expresses the desire for an encounter with God and an encounter with brothers and sisters in our common faith.

After the blessing of the main portal, Cardinal Bozanić conducted Vespers in the cathedral. In the sermon, the archbishop of Zagreb urged the faithful to ignore attempts to characterize religious investments in that which is good, including investments in the cultural goods of the Church, as insensitivity for the poor. “The Church never forgets nor can it forget the poor, because it would thereby be forgetting and negating itself,” emphasized the cardinal, adding that concern for the cultural goods in the Church is an expression and confirmation that there is concern for the common good, and thereby also for the poor. These two concerns in the Church are mutually complementary, not exclusive, while a lack of concern for the symbols of the values of a society indicates that such a community has no place for God or man, said the cardinal, and continued: “We would be deserving of scorn if we did not see the poor, but we would not be credible if we banished beauty and the heritage that grew from this faith and that gives us the strength to serve the poor! For the hygiene of the spirit of our dear Zagreb and Croatia, the cooperation of institutions and individuals who will cultivate beauty and recognize the power of symbols that are capable of providing impetus for the good is essential. This cathedral is the family home of the Zagreb Archdiocese. It is a symbol of our city and Croatia. If this is true, the question remains whether we relate toward this symbol in an appropriate manner.”
On this occasion, the cardinal invited artists from various fields to gather and create a nucleus for working together that will be at the service of the Church, and pointed out that the period of the Second Synod of the Zagreb Archdiocese is a particularly favorable time for this.