Vrhbosna’s Archbishop Coadjutor and Apostolic Warden of the Military Office in BiH, Msgr. Tomo Vukšić began his first visit to Rome after being appointed as a coadjutor, with a meeting with Pope Francis on Ash Wednesday, February 26^th.

They met at the end of the General Audience, attended by four other bishops: one each from Brazil and Australia and two from Italy.

This General audience, to avoid the risk of corona viruses for pilgrims, was held at St. Peter square instead of indoors in the hall of Paul VI. in which general auditions are held regularly at this time of year.

The Pope greeted Archbishop Vukšić with the words: “Nice to see you again!”

After Archbishop Vukšić thanked him for his confidence in the double appointment in January, the Bishop of Rome congratulated him on his new ministry and expressed his words of support in his mission and evangelistic work. He recommended that he continue to study and assist the efforts regarding respect the rights of the people, the Church and the Croat people in BiH.

“It is not an easy situation for your Church, and you are doing everything possible to stop the departure of the Croats, and thus the process of decristianization of the country”, the Pope said, and in that sense the basic need and assumption, as recently said from the Vatican, is to “make sure of full respect of the rights of all people and the real equality of the three constitutive peoples.”

On the same day, Bishop Vukšić was welcomed by Archbishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legal Texts, with whom he exchanged information regarding the authentic interpretation of certain church regulations.