ARCHBISHOP BOZANIC SERVES MIDNIGHT MASS IN ZAGREB CATHEDRAL

ZAGREB, Dec 25 (Hina) - The Zagreb Archbishop, Josip Bozanic, served the midnight mass of the Great Jubilee in the full Zagreb Cathedral on Christmas Eve. Bozanic invited all the faithful to forget the darkness sometimes caused by dramatic problems torturing the human heart, life in the family, social reality, the fate of a nation. At the beginning of the Holy Night of Christ's birth, Bozanic reminded that the Holy Father opened the Holy Door in the St Peter Basilica in Rome, which marked the beginning of the Great Jubilee 2000, since the birth of Jesus Christ. The Door presents our Lord Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate, Bozanic stressed. He reminded the faithful not to forget about the reality, and pointed to the unemployment problem, the poverty of many, displaced persons, and other consequences of the war. Speaking about the Christmas Light, Bozanic said that because of the Christmas joy and hope we must not let in to despair. In this Christmas night we gathered here to pay tribute to the child, the eternal Son of God, which came in our time, became human and lives among us. The prophecy is no longer directed towards future which has to be realised. The prophecy came true, once and for all, Bozanic said. Christmas and the birth of Jesus Christ is something new for the human history, the newly born Christ enters the human heart, reconstructs the root of the human fate, which in this way obtains a new face. The love of God is efficient and metamorphic for it is an inexhaustible well of salvation for all people, Bozanic said. In conclusion, Bozanic wished Merry Christmas of the Great Jubilee to all. After Holy Mass, Bozanic wished Marry Christmas to Croatian acting president Vlatko Pavletic, and other state officials including deputy presidents of the Croatian National Sabor Jadranka Kosor and Drazen Budisa and president of the Zagreb City Assembly Zlatko Canjuga. (hina) it