Today, as on the first Pentecost, Mary continues to be present in our Church community. She is a humble and discreet presence yet a stimulus for prayer and life in the Spirit.

Today, I would like to speak briefly with you about my trip to Croatia, the theme of which was “The Family: The Way of the Church and Its People.”

This was my 100th apostolic trip! I give heartfelt thanks to the Lord, who has opened before me the roads of the world and of its nations 100 times so that I might be a witness to him.

I returned to the noble land of Croatia in order to confirm the brethren in their faith. I wanted to take a message of peace and reconciliation to all of them, and I was granted the joy of beatifying Sister Maria Petkovic.

I wish to express my cordial gratitude to the bishops for having invited me and for welcoming me with kindness and love. I also extend my gratitude to the president of the republic and other civil and military authorities for their courteous support and thoughtful collaboration. Lastly, I thank the Archdiocese of Rijeka, as well as its seminary, for its hospitality to me and to my collaborators.

A Message to Women

My first stop was the ancient and glorious city of Dubrovnik, which is proud of its history and its tradition of liberty and justice. There I celebrated a Mass, during which Sister Maria Petkovic, who was an illustrious daughter of the Church in Croatia, was beatified. She was a woman who had a heroic desire to serve God among her poorest brothers and sisters, and she founded the Daughters of Mercy of the Third Regular Order of St. Francis in order to promote the knowledge of God's love through spiritual and corporal works of mercy.

In the aura of this admirable figure, I addressed a special message to the women of Croatia and encouraged them to make their spiritual and moral contribution to the Church and to society; I especially asked women religious to be eloquent signs of God's loving presence among the people.

The following day, at Osijek in the northeastern-most area of the country, in the dioceses of Djakovo and Srijem, I had the pleasure of presiding over the solemn conclusion of their second diocesan synod and of commemorating the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the ecclesiastical province of Zagreb.

A Call to Holiness

At that time, I reflected at length on holiness as the vocation of every Christian, one of the central teachings of the Second Vatican Council. In particular, I invited the laity among the faithful to fully appreciate the grace of baptism and confirmation. Only those who are motivated by a strong faith and a generous love can be apostles of reconciliation and moral reconstruction where the wounds of a painful and difficult past remain open.

In Djakovo, I was able to stop briefly at its beautiful cathedral, where I greeted the seminarians and their professors, as well as a large group of women religious.

The Value of the Family

During the Mass at Rijeka on Sunday, June 8, the feast of Pentecost, I prayed for a renewed outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the Christian families of Croatia and of the world. I placed all of them under the special protection of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Moreover, it seemed useful to me to confirm the primary social value of the institution of the family by urgently requesting that special attention be given and concrete steps be taken to promote its establishment, development and stability.

In the afternoon, I went to the Shrine of Trsat, which is located on a hill in the city of Rijeka, to unite myself in spirit with those pilgrims who venerate the Mother of God there. In fact, according to a pious tradition, the Holy House of Nazareth was briefly located there before it arrived in Loreto.

Mother of the Church

The last stop on my trip was Zadar, in Dalmatia, a city rich in history. In the shadow of the Cathedral of St. Anastasia, a martyr from Sirmio, I celebrated the sixth hour of the Liturgy of the Hours on the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church. On this Marian feast, which occurs during the solemnity of Pentecost, we were able to experience once again the atmosphere of the Upper Room. Today, as back then, Mary continues to be present in our Church community. She is a humble and discreet presence yet a stimulus for prayer and life in the Spirit. She is a contemplative presence, who is capable of calling the shepherds and the faithful to the primacy of the spiritual life and of listening to and assimilating the Word of God, which is an indispensable condition for a proclamation of the Gospel that is convincing and effective.

During this trip I was also able to see how much Christianity has contributed to the artistic and cultural development of Croatia and its people, but above all to its spiritual and moral development. It is on this solid base that now, at the start of the third millennium, the beloved nation of Croatia will be able to continue to build its unity and stability and integrate itself harmoniously in the partnership of the peoples of Europe.

May God continue to bless and protect Croatia! It will always have a special place in my heart and in my prayers.

(Register translation)