The assembly began with a Eucharistic celebration in the seminary church of St. Cyril and Methodius, led by the Metropolitan Archbishop of Vrhbosna and the Apostolic Administrator of the Military Ordinariate in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić together with the archbishop of Vrhbosna in peace cardinal Vinko Puljić and with the concelebration of the Vicar General of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić, rector of the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary and professor at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Sarajevo, rev. Zdenko Spajić and about 230 other priests.

Not judgment but salvation

After the biblical readings and the proclaimed Gospel, the archbishop of Vrhbosna, in an appropriate sermon, greeted the priests and also remembered those who, with their knowledge, will, concrete and self-denying effort, contributed to these assemblies so they can take place. He thanked and called for prayer for the deceased priests.

He then referred to the biblical readings and spoke about the protection that God provides to the messengers of the Gospel. "When God wants his cause to succeed, and when the preacher wants to be only a messenger of God's message and a means of God's will and goodness, as in this example was the case with the heralds of the Gospel, then his omnipotence renders all human opposition powerless. God intervened in favour of his apostles, and the angel of the Lord opened the prison door at night, led them out and told them to go back to the Temple and constantly proclaim to the people all the words of this Life, that is, that as witnesses of God's goodness, they should once again enter the risk of even greater torments, and they, obeying the words of the heavenly messenger, entered the Temple again at dawn and taught (cf. Acts 5:19-21) and thus continued the mission that had been entrusted to them", explained the preacher, adding that the other messages of this passage are as is "the permanent rule that the temple of God, its altar and its pulpit are the original places of living the identity of the apostles of Jesus and their pastoral activity, witnessing and proving", as well as the message that is recognized in the command of the heavenly voice "Announce to the people all the words of this Life."

Furthermore, Archbishop Tomo referred to a passage in John's Gospel, in which the essential content of God's message is announced, which, he said, is very important as a lesson for the priest's work. He explained the meaning of the words: "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that no one who believes in him should perish, but have eternal life. That God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him", that "the second person of the Holy Trinity did not become man in Jesus in order to condemn the world and thus reject it, but that the whole world through Jesus Christ would be offered salvation."

"God's love for the world, which was manifested in Jesus through his work of salvation, is the basic message of the whole proclamation of the Church and the basic content of the preaching of every apostle of Jesus. Prudent judgment is also their mission, but always so that, as the Gospel says, those who do not see yet, that is, who are morally blind and slaves to their own weaknesses, would not see. And in applying that rule, authentic witnesses of God's mercy know that patient waiting is a sign of Jesus' pastoral care. Therefore, it is expected from everyone who is entrusted with the priestly office, because everyone is called to behave as 'another Christ' in their actions and to be a continuation and continuity of the way in which He treated the world and people", said, among other things, the preacher calling finally, the priests to perform their service according to the example of Jesus' apostles, to be witnesses of God's mercy and patient educators of souls.

The Holy Mass celebration was animated by priests led by rev. Ivan Rako.

Marriage catechumenate

After the Holy Mass, the working part of the meeting followed in the hall of the Priest's House of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, which was opened by Msgr. Ćosić, and Archbishop Vukšić spoke with welcoming words.

At the beginning of the working part of the Assembly, an appropriate lecture on the topic of Catechumen itineraries for married life was held by the commissioner for pastoral care of marriage and family of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese and the director of the KŠC Sv. Franjo in Tuzla, rev. Ante Vrhovac.

In his report, rev. Vrhovac presented the document Catechumenal itineraries for married life. Pastoral guidelines for particular Churches, the context in which the document came out, some of the basic guiding thoughts, and finally he gave a schematic presentation of the document.

Introducing the presentation, he explained that the document is the work of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, and was published in June 2022, on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the apostolic exhortation of Pope Francis Amoris Letitia. It is intended for priests, spouses and those who work in the pastoral care of families.

"Publishing of the mentioned text is a direct response to the Pope's repeated call for the creation of a new catechumen in preparation for marriage, in order to avoid entering into void marriages or marriages with such weak foundations that they 'disintegrate quickly'. The Pope therefore recommended the implementation of a real catechumenate of future spouses, which would include all stages of the sacramental walk. The first would be the time of preparation for marriage, the second would be the celebration of the marriage itself and the third at the end of the first year after it was concluded. The marriage catechumenate is therefore an extensive itinerary inspired by the catechumenate of baptism, which enables young couples to live the sacrament of marriage more consciously, starting from the experience of faith and encounter with Jesus", said, among other things, rev. Vrhovac.

He then spoke about several phases of preparation - the pre-catechumenate phase in which children are presented with a vocation that will lead to marriage or consecrated life, an intermediate period that marks the preparation of trainees, a time of meeting and getting to know each other that should have a particularly kerygmatic character, then the catechumenate whose beginning can be marked with a ritual entrance, by presenting the couples to the faithful and by a concrete gesture, for example handing over the Holy Scriptures, so that later closer and more immediate preparation and follow-up in the first years of marriage can take place.

In the end, rev. Vrhovac concluded that a change in mentality is needed, that is, acceptance of the need for serious preparation for marriage so that the local Church could start designing a marriage catechumenate.

Final document of the Synod

After the lecture, rev. Vrhovac, vicar general Ćosić gave an overview of the archdeacon's meetings. He emphasized that these meetings, in addition to being informational and formative, also have a communal character, which is the need for participation and active contribution in the form of exchanging experiences, asking questions, making suggestions or sending positive criticism. He also pointed out that the meetings were well covered by the media thanks to the Catholic Press Agency, the Katolički tjednik and the nedjelja.ba web-portal, as well as the engagement of the head of the Office for Public Relations and the spokesperson of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, rev. Dražen Kustura.

After the vicar general's review, Rev. Ljubo Zadrić announced the meeting of the ministers of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese on April 20^th, and the moderator Msgr. Ćosić then informed those present that on April 8^th, Msgr. Vukšić signed the Decree appointing the working group for the preparation of the final document of the First Synod of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, whose members are: Msgr. Ćosić, rev. Šimo Maršić, OFM Danimir Pezer, OFM Šimo Ivelj, rev. Hrvoje Kalem, rev. Ilija Marković, rev. Ante Vrhovac, rev. Mladen Kalfić and the secretary of the Synod, rev. Mario Bernadić.

After that, the treasurer of the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, rev. Vladimir Pranjić presented the report from the finance department and pointed out that all institutions performed positively.

Joining the discussion that followed, the director of Caritas BiH, Msgr. Tomo Knežević clarified the situation when it comes to the distribution of funds that will be collected in the action Week of Solidarity with the Church and People in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is implemented by Croatian Caritas.

Editor of the Katolički tjednik, rev. Josip Vajdner praised the topic covered and suggested putting emphasis on "pre-catechumens", and so that "the future of our Church would not be in nursing homes", to create a project that will include psychologists, sociologists, demographers and others, so that young people can get to know each other and think about marriage as such - given that they are "bombarded" daily with worldviews that contradict them.

Msgr. Anto Ćosić, noticing that something that comes by nature, such as marriage and the sacrament of the priestly order or religious vows, was put on the same level, to which Rev. Vrhovac explained that when the document talks about the same dignity of every vocation, it is primarily about the subjective call of each person to holiness.

The Vicar General brought the work part of the program to an end by thanking everyone for their participation, and Archbishop Tomo delivered the closing speech, explaining that the final process of the Synod of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese continues - the creation of an implementation document.

The fellowship continued with a joint meal in the premises of the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary.