At the central event of the Papal visit, the holy mass at the Koševo Stadium in Sarajevo, around 200 soldiers will be present and around 100 civilians and members of foreign military formations which are present in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Military bishop in BiH Tomo Vukšić told FENA, reminding that all military chaplains are invited to inform their faithful and to animate them to join this important event in one of two ways, as soldiers or with the faithful of the parish in which they live.
“Some have chosen one way and others have chosen the other way. The response of Catholic soldiers is really big so we can safely say that there will be a lot more of these numbers at the Mass with the Pope. Several days after the Papal visit we will have the opportunity to analyze everything at the regular July meeting of military chaplains which was supposed to be held in Kiseljak,” Vukšić said.
Besides the fact that Pope Francis is coming to encourage the Catholics in BiH, the military bishop in BiH stresses that the supreme head of the Catholic Church comes to “encourage national authorities to return just laws, that really implement the laws that are already in force and to finally start to implement the Law on Freedom of Religion and the Legal Position of Churches and religious organizations and two international treaties that have been signed with the Holy See.”
“We already know that the message of Pope Francis will be stimulating and encouraging for all but we hope that there will be those who hear them, and actually implement them. I send my wish and my prayer to almighty God that the Pope's message turns into a beginning of a better and happier future for individuals and all of society,” said Vukšić.
Stating that the Pope's visits are primarily an expression of concern for the Catholic believers and the entire ecclesial situation in the area he visits, military bishop in BiH Tomo Vukšić told FENA that Pope Francis encourages citizens to promote and protect the common good, social harmony and dialogue in this complex society.
Otherwise, Pope Benedict XVI on February 1, 2011, issued a decree on the establishment of the Military Chaplaincy (Office of the Catholic Pastoral Care) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Ordinariate was established with the signing of the Agreement on the establishment, structure and mode of action of the Catholic Pastoral Care in the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces of BiH Council of Ministers and the same archbishopric on 11 September 2007.
In April 2010, a contract was signed between Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Holy See on the Pastoral Care of Catholic faithful members of the Armed Forces which was ratified in the Presidency in July of the same year.
The Military Ordinariate has more than nine chaplaincies that cover the entire area of Bosnia and Herzegovina and care for the spiritual needs of Catholic members of the Ministry of Defense of BiH and the BiH Armed Forces and their families.
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