Rijeka, (IKA) – “Tomorrow, Benedict XVI will set foot on Croatian soil for the first time since he has assumed the office of the successor of Peter. I am confident that we shall all welcome him joyfully, as three times we welcomed his predecessor. John Paul II,, whom we now venerate as Blessed,” said the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Rijeka, Msgr. Ivan Devčić, regarding the forthcoming apostolic visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Croatia.
“We shall gather together around the Pope with the motto: ‘Together in Christ.’ He will truly bring us a great gift if he helps us to achieve the message of this motto. We believe that he will help us and that we, inspired by his words and witness, but also by the power of the ministry that he performs in the Church, which is the service of community – will be helped to overcome many divisions and conflicts. We recall that his predecessor, John Paul II, said in Rijeka during a homily that our society is “dramatically divided.” May this visit by his successor help all of us to overcome all the divisions in Croatian society, especially within our families. The Holy Father will conclude his visit with prayer at the tomb of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, who endured martyrdom in order to preserve the unity of our Church with the cathedra of Peter and for the unity of our nation. Therefore, let us go joyfully in large numbers to the encounter with the Holy Father, at this great Mass during the second decade of the twenty-first century. Let nothing cause us to waver.
“We know that the messages and reverberations of the Pope’s visit could not reach large numbers of people without the intervention of many working in the media, whom I sincerely thank as the President of the Committee of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for the Mass Media. What the media will do these days with their coverage of information about the Pope’s appearances and messages is an invaluable contribution to achieving that to which we are called by the motto of our encounter with the Holy Father, as well as a wonderful promotion of our beautiful Croatian homeland throughout the world,” said Archbishop Devčić.