UDBINA, Sept 9 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Bishops Conference (HBK), Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, celebrated the Eucharist at Podudbina on Tuesday, marking the 510th anniversary of the 1493 Battle of Krbava against
Ottoman Turks and launching a campaign to build a church in memory of Croatian martyrs at Udbina, some 150 km south of Zagreb.
UDBINA, Sept 9 (Hina) - The president of the Croatian Bishops
Conference (HBK), Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, celebrated the
Eucharist at Podudbina on Tuesday, marking the 510th anniversary of
the 1493 Battle of Krbava against Ottoman Turks and launching a
campaign to build a church in memory of Croatian martyrs at Udbina,
some 150 km south of Zagreb. #L#
Among church dignitaries and county and party officials present at
the event was Parliament President Zlatko Tomcic. Tomcic and
Bozanic co-chair a committee to build the Church of Croatian
Martyrs.
Delivering his sermon, Bozanic said that by marking the 510th
anniversary of the Battle of Krbava one marked the beginning of a
project to build the Church of Croatian Martyrs at Udbina, a place
where the heritage of generations of Christian Croats had
intertwined throughout the history, and where, as rulers changed,
attempts had been made to revise the history and distort the truth.
Bishop Mile Bogovic of Gospic and Senj said in a sermon that
animosity had no place in the new church.
"We want to build a church... for all those who live or will live
here, for Croats and Serbs, for Catholics and people of Orthodox
faith, for believers and non-believers," Bogovic said.
He said efforts should be made to ensure that neither Croats nor
Serbs ever had to leave the area again.
Commenting on the construction of the Church of Croatian Martyrs,
Bogovic said: "When we say Croatian martyrs, we do not mean only
'ethnic Croats', but all those who lived and died witnessing the
faith in the spirit of the Pope's message... who fought so that
there could be more freedom, unity, peace and pleasure here. Among
them are also members of other peoples and religions, Hungarians,
Serbs, Albanians, Jews, Muslims and others. They all belong to this
eminent group of Croatian martyrs," Bogovic said.
Participating in the sermon were a dozen Croatian bishops and
archbishops and about 50 priests. Poet Dragutin Tadijanovic also
attended.
Parliament President Zlatko Tomcic, who co-sponsored the event,
pointed to the historical importance of the Battle of Krbava and the
generations of those who had struggled for freedom throughout
history.
Tomcic said that the church at Udbina would be a sacral building and
a memorial centre.
The church will be a lasting tribute to the rich spiritual and
secular history of our homeland, particularly that of Lika and
Krbava regions, he said.
(hina) rml