Expressing gratitude for the warm welcome in Vukovar, Lajolo said that he could not visit Croatia without visiting Vukovar.
"Great suffering cannot be in vain. If suffering transforms into wisdom, it starts to create a better world. Wisdom growing out of suffering is what Pope John Paul II, who loved Croatia dearly, warned about," Lajolo said at a reception in the town council. To forgive means to seek a new way so that evil does not happen again, he added.
Vukovar Mayor Tomislav Sota spoke about Vukovar as a symbol of resistance and suffering in the war for Croatia's independence and a city of a new future.
The Vatican official, who is visiting Croatia at the invitation of Foreign Minister Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic, presented Mayor Sota with a medal with a blessing for Vukovar from Pope Benedict XVI.
Lajolo visited the Church of Saints Phillip and Jacob and the Homeland War Memorial Cemetery, where he lit a candle.
Lajolo was also due to visit Osijek and Djakovo. In Djakovo he was due to unveil a plaque commemorating Pope John Paul II's visit to the town in 2003.