On the eve of the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Homeland War and the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Vukovar and Škabrnja, the Chapel of Christ the Martyr King was blessed and opened with this symbolic act at the Memorial Cemetery of the Victims of the Homeland War in Vukovar.
It was built on the joint initiative of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Croatian Veterans, Tom Medved, and the former Vukovar parish priest Fr. Ivica Jagodić, in memory of all the victims killed during and after the aggression against Vukovar and Croatia.
Along with Minister Medved and the families of dead and missing Croatian veterans and civilian victims from the Homeland War, the blessing and mass were attended by the representative of the President of the Croatian Parliament, MP Nikola Mažar, the Vice-President of the Croatian Parliament and the Mayor of Vukovar Ivan Penava, MP Ante Deur, the representative of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, retired general Željko Živanović, envoy of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, State Secretary Tomislav Bilandžić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Croatian Veterans Zlatan Bašić, from the prefect of the Vukovar-Srijem County Franjo Orešković and numerous believers.
On this occasion, all the gathered believers were greeted by the pastor and guardian of the Vukovar Parish of St. Filip and Jakov, Fr. Tonio Vučemilović, especially greeted retired sergeant Vlada Dugandžić, who made a pilgrimage from Metković to Vukovar, and he dedicated his vowed pilgrimage, during which he walked 800 km in one month, to all dead, missing and deceased Croatian veterans.
The blessing of the chapel and the mass celebration were led by Archbishop Đuro Hranić of Đakovo and Osijek, who thanked the Ministry of Croatian Veterans and especially Minister Medved for building the chapel, as well as the authors of the exterior and interior design, the architect Bogomir Hrnčić and the academic sculptor Petar Dolić., and at the first mass the Sveti Juraj Choir of HRM performed in the chapel.
Powerful messages in the inspired sermon of Archbishop Hranić
In an inspired sermon, Archbishop Hranić pointed out that the Homeland War was a great, evil and trouble imposed on us, but the international recognition of Croatia was a light for the wounded homeland.
"The international recognition demoralized the aggressors, and strengthened our entire nation in their faith in Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who never leaves his own, who comes to us again and again to lift us up and encourage us and strengthen our hope." said Hranić.
"This newly built chapel of Christ the Martyr King is a visible witness and expression of the Christian faith that carried those who rest in this Memorial Cemetery. This is also a new strong message to our citizens and students, to everyone who comes here, that Christ, who gave his life in generous love for our salvation, is the first and king of all those who generously give their lives out of love for others, in defense their freedom and their inalienable rights and dignity", Archbishop Hranić said.
"This chapel is an expression and witness of ourselves, our Christian roots and identity, our human and Christian pride, but at the same time a strong call to all of us to be faithful to Christ and his freedom from ourselves and for others, and to generously give our lives, time, and strength , health and all their abilities and gifts in the peacetime construction of the present and future of our Croatian homeland and its entire social, economic and political life", said Hranić.
He also referred to the readings and invited everyone to follow the evangelical logic of forgiveness, love and mercy "which teaches us that he who does violence to others and inflicts harm on them is not great and strong, nor is he who repays in equal measure, but that he is truly great and a strong one who is ready to endure violence and evil, not wanting to inflict it on another, that the apparent loser is actually the winner because true strength is shown not by revenge and return in equal measure, but by forgiveness, which always means stopping the spiral of violence and evil, and the belief that Christ's resurrection tells us that the defenders by donating their own lives not only defended the freedom of our homeland, but that they, with their generous sacrifice, with the rosary around their necks as a sign of their own faith and personal religious devotion and adherence to Christ the Lord , in this impermanence of Zeal, surely gained eternal, imperishable life".
After the mass, state and local officials, together with the families of the dead and missing Croatian veterans, laid roses and lit candles on all the graves at the Memorial Cemetery of the Homeland War victims in Vukovar, as well as next to 938 white crosses at the site of the largest mass grave from the Homeland War.
Chapel of Christ the Martyr King
The works began in May 2023 and were completed in early autumn 2024. The author of the architectural design is Bogomir Hrnčić, and the author of the artistic and liturgical furnishing is the academic sculptor Petar Dolić, who was guided by the idea of paying tribute to the City of Vukovar and the victims of the Homeland War.
The chapel is equipped with a bronze altar and a bronze ambo in the shape of an hourglass, with a psalm from the Gospel of John drawn in the sand: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was in God and the Word was God. She was in God in the beginning. Everything came to be because of her and nothing came to be without her. Everything that grew in it had life and life was light to people; and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not overtake it.
The tabernacle is made of cast bronze in the shape of bread with a cross, gilded interior and eternal light made of stone and glass. Behind the altar, on a massive cross made of Slavonian oak, Christ the King of Martyrs is cast in silumin and patinated, while the wall around the cross is painted in tones of patinated bronze as a link to the large bronze monument on the memorial square.
To the left and right of the altar are glass doors and skylights made of tempered glass, painted using the stained glass technique, symbolizing the rivers of blood that flowed down the Danube in 1991. Above the crucifix, across the entire width of the wall, is a canvas that, with its texture, shines through light that is reminiscent of heavenly light.
The double-winged doors on the steel structure are coated with patinated copper, with a cut silhouette of Christ embracing, while on the outside above the cladding are applied oak beams, wavy processed so as to resemble the waters of the Danube. The interior of the chapel is illuminated by unique hanging and wall lamps. For the chapel of Christ the Martyr, a chalice in the shape of the Water Tower was made of bronze with gilding.
Memorial cemetery of the victims of the Homeland War
The memorial cemetery for the victims of the Homeland War in Vukovar was created after the discovery of the largest mass grave in 1998, from which the remains of 938 people were exhumed, in whose place today there are 938 white crosses, one in memory of each victim.
At the Memorial Cemetery, Croatian veterans and civilian victims, as well as deceased Croatian war invalids, as well as deceased family members of deceased Croatian veterans, are buried.
As of September 2024, 1166 deceased were buried, of which 429 were dead Croatian veterans, 319 deceased civilians, 320 deceased Croatian war invalids, 5 deceased Croatian veterans and 93 family members of deceased Croatian veterans.
A Visitor Center has been established at the Memorial Cemetery, where through a touch screen visitors can find basic information about the Battle of Vukovar, see photographs of exhumations and mass burials identified from 1998, browse the Book of Mourning, and find basic information about burials in the cemetery with the exact position of their last resting place.
Source and photo: Ministry of Croatian Veterans
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