This year's seminar for Catholic catechists in primary and secondary schools gathered around 100 participants and consisted of two parts: Holy Mass in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Sarajevo, led by the Vicar General of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić, concelebrated by the Head of the Catechetical Office of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, Rev. Marko Zubak, and five priests.

Surrender to the Guidance of Jesus

At the beginning of his homily, Msgr. Ćosić reminded that this year's Catechetical Day takes place on the commemoration of the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist, and the Holy Mass readings encourage reflection on two persons, two characters, two ways of life – and two “destinies”. "The evangelist Mark brings his account of the murder of John the Baptist after the sending of the apostles (cf. Mk 6:7-13). This is a fact that clearly indicates that the life of every disciple of Jesus includes suffering, pain, contradiction – sometimes even death. At the same time, it also indicates what Jesus expects from each of his disciples – which is a testimony of love, faith and hope. Therefore, a little intelligence is enough to understand that being a disciple of Jesus Christ, under none of the above conditions, is a very attractive calling. But, fortunately, it is exclusively a call of grace which, in its essence, asks those called to surrender to Jesus' leadership and always and in everything to do good. Even at the cost of losing their own lives, which is, in the end, the greatest gain", explained the vicar general, referring to the part of the report that mentions Herod's feast in the palace, which comes just before Jesus miraculously feeds 5 000 souls in a deserted place. He recalled that the said feast used “ingredients” such as: wealth, power, pride, ambition, lust, intrigue, bitterness, injustice and violent taking of life. While, on the other hand, Jesus provides simple bread for food, which spreads the most beautiful aroma, because its main ingredient is love that is given to others and multiplied by sharing – and therefore saves the lives of many! Finally, Msgr. Ćosić shared with the catechists his belief that each catechist, in carrying out the mission entrusted to them in the Church, wants to be like John the Baptist, which means being: humble, moderate, courageous, consistent, free, moral, truthful.

Negative statistics

After the Holy Mass, there was a working session at the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary where Rev. Marko Zubak presented a small inventory, announcing that Catholic religious education classes were held in 138 schools in the Vrhbosna Archdiocese in the past school year, of which 80 were primary schools (with associated branch schools) and 58 were secondary schools. He also recalled that over the past three decades, the number of religious education students and religious education teachers in the Archdiocese has plummeted. "For example, the number of students in primary schools decreased from 9 176 in the 2020/21 school year to 7 734 in the 2024/25 school year, which represents a decrease of 1 442 students, or 15.7%. In secondary schools, the number fell from 4 341 to 3 757 students, which represents a decrease of 584 students, or 13.5%. In total, at the level of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese in the last five years, the number of religious education students has decreased from 13 517 to 11 530," warned Rev. Zubak, adding that 75 religious education teachers, 12 nuns and 15 priests participate in Catholic religious education in the archdiocese, and noted that the total number of employees suggests a visible decrease in the share of nuns compared to previous periods, which additionally burdens laypeople and priests with an increased number of hours and obligations.

After these introductory words, mr. Rev. Vedran Ćosić, head of the boarding school at the Sarajevo Catholic school centre Sv. Josip and a doctoral student in Rome, gave a lecture on the topic: Catechetical mission as discreet recognition of anxiety symptoms in students and staff.

Conversation without judgment

Answering the question: What should a catechist do to help children, the lecturer said that the approach of adults (teachers, educators, parents, catechists, catechists) should be understanding, consistent and focused on gradually empowering the child, and not on avoiding or punishing. "It is important, among other things, to recognize and name - notice the pattern, not just an individual incident, talk to the child calmly, without judgment, confirming that the fear is real, and not minimize it or encourage avoidance - any avoidance calms in the short term, but in the long term increases anxiety; it is necessary to gradually and with support return the child to the situation that causes fear", the lecturer explained.

After the final part of the Catechetical Day, Msgr. Ćosić, on behalf of Archbishop Vukšić, distributed canonical missions to individual catechists, then the gathering continued with a joint meal at the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary.