The Holy Mass celebration in Bobovac, which is located in the parish of Kraljeva Sutjeska, was led by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Vrhbosna and the apostolic administrator of the Military Ordinariate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić. About 20 priests concelebrated, among them vicars general: Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić, Military Ordinariate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Msgr. Željko Čuturić and the bishop's vicar for the pastoral care of the Ministry of Defense and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia, rev. Slavko Rajič, who led the delegation of the Military Ordinariate in the Republic of Croatia. The prayer celebration was also attended by the Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ivan Sabolić, and representatives of the Military Vicariate from Ljubljana.

A large number of believers participated, who completely filled the Bobovac plateau, reaching it in a procession, praying all the way. Among those present were representatives of the political life of Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, headed by Marinko Čavara, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Deputy Minister of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina Slaven Galić.

A double prayer

At the beginning of the homily, entitled If one suffers, all members suffer together. If one is celebrated, all members rejoice together, Archbishop Vukšić noted that this year's prayer campaign for the Motherland and all the people who live in it gathered a large number of Catholic believers. He also reminded that this year's march, which regularly takes place in connection with the day of the death of Queen Katarina, who died on October 25^th, is, unlike all previous ones, special because it takes place in the year in which the 600^th anniversary of her birth is celebrated

"Therefore, our prayer is twofold: on the one hand, a prayer of gratitude to the Lord God for her birth and for her beautiful example of serving people and the Motherland, and, on the other hand, our prayer is a request that the Lord, by His mercy, turn the end of her earthly life into the beginning of her life in eternity", encouraged the preacher.

Then Msgr. Vukšić referred to the apostle Paul, who, when he observed and interpreted the Church as a visible community, which is composed of many different individuals, very often used the image of the human body in his preaching and writings (1 Cor 12:12-31). "In fact, just as the body is always one even though it has many members, so it is with the Church. It is not only a visible historical organism, but is one body of Christ, of which we are members. All members of the Church together are the body of Christ, and individually they are members of it Paul writes: "The eye cannot say to the hand, 'I do not need you,' or the head to the feet, 'I do not need you.' On the contrary, the members of the body that seem weaker are much more necessary. (...) Rather, God has put the body together in such a way that he gave more abundant honour to the last member, so that there is no discord in the body, but that the members take care of each other equally one limb, all the limbs suffer together; if one limb is celebrated, all the limbs rejoice together'", the Archbishop of Vrhbosna reminded.

Catholics aware of responsibility

Furthermore, the preacher interpreted that, just as the complexity of the Church and the mutual and reciprocal responsibility obligations of all its members are interpreted through the image of the human body, so every ordinary human society can be viewed through the same image of the body.

"You see, every human society is one, but it is also complex. That is, although as a society every human community is one body, in that body there are many different parts: people, nations, institutions, languages, cultures, religious communities and much more. That is, the Christian view of the world is that every social body is composed of many of its members, which must treat each other responsibly and with respect. Namely, just as the level of health of the human body depends on the health of all its individual limbs, so it is with every human society, because its healthy progress is equal to the sum of the individual contributions of its inhabitants, state bodies and other institutions", said Archbishop Tomo, adding that is the building of a just society and its progress the task and responsibility of all people, and how we Catholics are deeply aware of this and want, in accordance with church teaching and just laws, to responsibly participate in the construction of the Motherland, to contribute to its development, to respect every one of its peoples, their dignity, human and religious rights, individual and collective.

The preacher especially emphasized that with today's prayer tour, which has already become a very beautiful tradition in the pastoral calendar and which we will be happy to nurture in the future, we Catholics proudly continue to make our contribution to respect the rights and dignity of every person and nation.

Moral obligation

"This is our moral obligation, which stems from Catholic identity itself, and not just from ordinary human laws. Therefore, in the name of the basic teachings of Christ and Christian morality, it should also be repeated that no one is ever allowed to humiliate any individual or the collective dignity and rights of any nation, in any way, not even by using the loopholes and oversights of unjust human laws", said the archbishop of Vrhbosna.

The Holy Eucharist was animated by the church choir of the parish of St. John the Baptist from Kraljeva Sutjeska under the direction of prof. Marina Kovač.

At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, Msgr. Čuturić thanked those present, and especially the members of the Armed Forces of BiH, the Fifth Infantry Brigade from the Second Battalion with the commander, Colonel Boro Miličević, who for many years have been participating in the organization and logistical support so that the Holy Mass could be celebrated with dignity and, at the end, traditionally, to prepare a meal, army beans, for all participants.

Then, as is the tradition of the Day of Prayer at the royal Bobovac, Archbishop Vukšić presented Colonel Miličević with a certificate of thanks, and to the deputy director of KPZ Zenica, Ivica Dujmović, presented a picture. Also, the guard commander of Zenica KPZ Slaven Tadić presented a picture to rev. Mato Majić, former parish priest of Borovica.

Cardinal Puljić's initiative

Let's also say that the Prayer Day for the Homeland of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese and the pilgrimage to Bobovac by Catholic members of the Ministry of Defense, Armed Forces and Police Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina are traditionally held on the Saturday closest to the date of death of the penultimate Bosnian queen, Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić, who died in Rome in 1478.

The initiative for the Day of Prayer in Bobovac was started in 2002 by the then Archbishop Metropolitan of Vrhbosna cardinal Vinko Puljić in commemoration of the death of the Bosnian Queen Katarina Kosača with the aim of uniting in prayer for personal needs, its own people and homeland Bosnia and Herzegovina, but also for all the people and nations that live in it. Since 2002, the faithful of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna have been making pilgrimages to Bobovac, and two years later they were joined by members of the BiH Armed and Police Forces.

Historical data show that Bobovac was the most important and best-fortified town in medieval Bosnia, built on the rock of the southern slopes of the mountain massif southwest of Vareš. It was located not far from the villages of Mijakovići and Dragovići, in the municipality of Vareš. The city was conquered by the Ottomans on May 21^st, 1463 and they garrisoned there until 1626, when it was abandoned because it no longer had strategic importance.