The Catholic faithful from Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia congregated outside the rebuilt Church of the Holy Family in the parish of Otinovci to attend Mass led by the Archbishop of Sarajevo, Cardinal Vinko Puljic.
Among those present were the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, and a large number of bishops and members of various religious orders.
The gathering on the Kupres plateau took place on the anniversary of the first such celebration that was organised by the Austrian Bishops' Conference at the Mariazell shrine last year.
The idea for Central European Catholic Day came from the late Pope John Paul II and its purpose is to promote the Catholic identity and European heritage of the eight countries.
In his homily, Cardinal Bozanic underlined the need to preserve and cherish the family and unity among the Croatian people.
"We are one people brought together mainly by the same faith, the Catholic faith. We see the fact that we live in two countries as an asset," Bozanic said in his message to the Croats in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was greeted with a loud applause.