The solemn Holy Mass celebration was led by the President of Caritas BiH, Metropolitan Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić. Four bishops concelebrated with him: members of the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bishop of Mostar and Duvno and Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje and Mrkan Msgr. Petar Palić and Bishop of Banja Luka Msgr. Željko Majić; President of Croatian Caritas Msgr. Bože Radoš, Bishop of Varaždin, and President of Bulgarian Caritas Bishop of Sofia Msgr. Rumen Stanev; Secretary of the Apostolic Nunciature in BiH Msgr. Javier Camañes-Forés, Provincial of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena OFM Zdravko Dadić, directors of national and diocesan Caritas and about 15 other priests.

At the beginning, Archbishop Vukšić gave a greeting, recalling the founding of this charitable body of the Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Holy Mass celebration was animated by the mixed cathedral choir Josip Stadler, while the theologians of the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary served at the altar.

The Holy Mass readings were read by employees of Caritas in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

A series of great nobility

After the proclamation of the Gospel, the Archbishop of Vrhbosna delivered a sermon, recalling the reason for the gathering. "First of all, today is Caritas Sunday, which has been regularly celebrated on the Third Sunday of Advent in all our diocesan, parish and other communities, in an uninterrupted series since December 15^th 1996 (…) This year also marks three decades of the existence and work of Caritas Bosnia and Herzegovina. This, in addition to marking the anniversary, encourages us to express our gratitude to all who have contributed to the work of this important church institution, especially its directors, employees and volunteers. In this series of great generosity and numerous merits, we also express our gratitude to numerous benefactors, domestic and foreign, individuals and institutions, who, with their gifts and projects, not only encouraged the work of Caritas, but also literally depended on their contributions how much help people in need will receive. Thank you also to all of you who responded and came to Sarajevo today and with your presence and prayer, as witnesses and workers of Christian love, joined us in this grateful Holy Mass celebration", said Archbishop Tomo at the beginning.

Visible God's Works of Love

He continued, speaking about the roots of Caritas in the Christian faith, emphasizing that its name in Latin (caritas) denotes visible God's works of love, as opposed to the term amor, which is the name for the love felt towards someone. "The individual Christian as a member of the Church, which mediates faith, hope and love to him and which helps him to realize and grow, through his effective love for another person, is a witness to Christ who loves. He does this as an individual, but also in the name of the Church as a community of love (…) Some will say in this sense: Caritas is the visible face of Jesus Christ and the legitimization of the Church in the world. And as much as it is necessary for it to be so, this truth also has its much more important and deeper meaning because: Caritas is the face of the Church! Without works of love, the Church would not have the face to call itself the community of Jesus' disciples, because only the Church that acts in charity is the Church with a face. And the one who has face, both God respects and people respect", the president of Caritas BiH reminded.

Finally, he emphasized that the Church's charitable work in the world is also a privileged way of evangelization and proclamation. "Individual acts of Christian love are the means and the way in which God speaks and evangelizes, and the Christian bears convincing witness to God's presence. Through them, Christians are not only a beautiful example of upbringing or humanity, but, using this universal vocabulary, they become means of evangelization", said, among other things, the Archbishop of Vrhbosna.

Ceremonial Academy

After the Holy Mass, the celebration of three decades of Caritas BiH continued with a ceremonial academy in the hall of the Priests' House of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, with a program led by Ante Bender.

At the beginning, the attendees were greeted with a song by the choir of the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary led by their rector, rev. Ivan Rako. During the academy, they performed three compositions: Ubi caritas (Gregorian chorale; arr. by Rev. Ivan Rako), Stopama vjere (Via footprints of faith, A. Mateljan/ Š. Marović) and Misao svijeta (Thought of world, S. S. Kranjčević/ K. Magdić).

This was followed by a welcoming speech by the President of Caritas BiH, Msgr. Vukšić, who also greeted the attendees on behalf of the Acting Director of Caritas BiH, rev. Bojan Ivešić, Secretary General of the BK BiH, who could not attend the celebration due to his previously scheduled doctorate in Rome.

Among other things, he expressed his gratitude to all those who were and are part of Caritas, both at the national and diocesan level, as well as foreign Caritas. "A place for all benefactors to meet is necessary for man, and such activities are always a good example of building social harmony and strengthening the common good", said the archbishop.

The president of Croatian Caritas, Msgr. Radoš, then addressed the audience, emphasizing the fraternal bond between these Caritas of the Church in Croatia. "We believe that you (Caritas BiH, ed.) are our younger brother because two years ago we celebrated 30 years since the founding of our Caritas. We rejoice in each of your good deeds, we especially see, we notice how many dramas you have copied from the Gospel and lived with those who are at the centre, who are in the heart. Today, Archbishop Tomo beautifully conveyed to us through his sermon that Caritas is the lived Gospel, that at the heart of the Gospel is love that must be concrete love. And those dramas of love that sometimes resembled tragedy, God made them have a happy ending", said Bishop Bože, saying that the hand of Croatian Caritas is firm when it comes to Caritas BiH, that it will never weaken.

This was followed by video messages from friends who could not be here: Caritas Internationalis and Caritas Europe.

Then, a film about Caritas BiH was premiered and plaques and certificates of appreciation were presented.

The closing address was given by Msgr. Palić, President of the Supervisory Board of Caritas BiH, who looked back on the past 30 years of Caritas BiH's activities, emphasizing that behind the numerous projects and programs implemented, lies, above all, the permanent and persistent service of love of the Church towards people in need.

The program ended with a reception at which numerous friends, associates and benefactors of Caritas BiH from church, cultural, social and political life met.