On July 27th, in Drvar, the Day of Prayerful Remembrance for the Martyrs and Victims of the Banja Luka Diocese was marked. The Holy Mass for this occasion was led by Bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Franjo Komarica.
The prayer gathering began at the new Pastoral Centre, where the devotion of the Way of the Cross of the Martyrs’ Stations was conducted by the dean of Banja Luka, rev. Žarko Vladislav Ošap, who was formerly the parish priest in Drvar.
Then Bishop Komarica celebrated the Eucharist in concelebration with seven priests, while Deacon Marijan Krajinović served at the altar.
Great Crimes and the Disappearance of Croats
At the beginning of the Holy Mass, parish priest rev. Davor Klečina reminded the faithful of the historical facts that have led them to gather every July 27th since 2001 for a prayerful assembly in Drvar. On that day in 1941, Drvar’s priest Waldemar Maksimilijan Nestor was killed by the “insurgents,” along with a group of believers who were returning from a pilgrimage to St. Anne in Knin. This marked the beginning of suffering, not only for the Drvar parish, but for the entire Banja Luka Diocese and beyond.
In the following days, the widespread suffering and destruction continued in the neighbouring parishes of Bosansko Grahovo and Krnjeuša, as well as the nearby Boričevac in Lika. In these three parishes of the Banja Luka Diocese (Drvar, Grahovo, Krnjeuša), more than 650 Catholics were killed during those days, mostly Croats, many of whom were civilians. In addition to Father Nestor, the Grahovo parish priest Father Juraj Gospodnetić and the Krnjeuša parish priest Father Krešimir Barišić, along with three seminarians, were brutally killed.
In all three parishes, parish churches and cemeteries were completely destroyed by the end of the war. After the war, Croats were prohibited from returning, and their properties were distributed to the local Serbian population. Thus, the Croats were completely eradicated from vast areas of western Bosnia and eastern Lika, areas affected by the “uprising” of the summer of 1941.
The Law of Christ’s Love
Bishop Komarica, in his sermon, recalled that he established the Day of Prayerful Remembrance for the Martyrs and Victims of the Banja Luka Diocese in response to the encouragement of Saint Pope John Paul II to preserve the memory of martyrs and innocent victims in the Catholic Church. Drvar was chosen as the central location for the commemoration, as it was in this parish that the suffering of the Banja Luka Diocese began during World War II and its aftermath. He also noted that the Holy See granted permission to the Banja Luka Diocese in 2014 to initiate the beatification process for the three priests mentioned by Father Davor, as well as for Father Ante Dujlović, the parish priest of Gumjera near Prnjavor, who was killed in 1943. Bishop Komarica emphasized the importance of valuing martyrdom in the Church, as “martyrs in the Church of Christ are luminous signs of its holiness.”
“However, through their extraordinary and consistent testimony for Christ and for God’s law, martyrs are also a constant reproach to all those who do not follow God’s commandments; who despise both God and humanity as God’s beloved creation”, the bishop said, concluding that the “bloody testimony of Christ’s believers, priests, monks, bishops, has been and will be precious healthy seed for new growth and new blossoming of Christianity, as history testifies in the Church.”
At the end of the Holy Mass, Vicepostulator of the Martyrdom Process of Herzegovina Franciscans, OFM Miljenko Mića Stojić, addressed the attendees, encouraging them not to lose heart in preserving the memory of their martyrs and spiritual giants. He highlighted the installation of 290 crosses at the Memorial Center “Groblje mira” (Peace Cemetery) in Bili, each with the names of the murdered Croatian Catholic victims from the parish of Krnjeuša, as a visible fruit of the communion between the martyr churches of Banja Luka and Herzegovina.
The liturgical singing was animated by the SMI sisters from the monastery in Žabljak near Livno.
After the Holy Mass, those present went to the memorial cross to the fallen veterans in the centre of the city, where the delegations laid wreaths, and Bishop Komarica prayed for all the victims of past wars.
As a reminder, since 2001 this day has been marked as the Day of the Martyrs of Drvar, and since 2008 it has become the central diocesan commemoration for all martyrs and victims of wars and totalitarianism in the 20th century.
KT
