The assembly began with a Eucharistic celebration in the seminary church of St. Cyril and Methodius, led by the Archbishop of Vrhbosna, Metropolitan Msgr. Tomo Vukšić, in the concelebration with the Archbishop in peace of Vrhbosna cardinal Vinko Puljić, Provincial of the Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena, OFM Jozo Marinčić, Vicar General of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić, rector of the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary, rev. Zdenko Spajić and other gathered priests, about 100 of them.

At the beginning, the audience was greeted by Rector Spajić, who expressed his joy because the priests gathered again at this joyous event after two pandemic years.

After the biblical readings and the proclaimed Gospel, the Archbishop of Vrhbosna delivered a sermon, referring to the passage read from Luke’s Gospel.

The Holy Mass was followed by a working part of the meeting in the hall of the Priests’ Home of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, during which Msgr. Ćosić gave an introductory speech, and called on those gathered to remember those priests who died in the last two years.

Moderator of the working part, instead of the justifiably absent Dr. Rev. Šime Maršić, was the head of the Counseling Office of the Vrhbosna Archdiocese and a professor at the Zagreb KBF, Dr. Sanda Smoljo Dobrovoljski.

Prior to the opening of the topic Protection of minors as a pastoral need, the Archbishop addressed the audience, emphasizing that this is a preventive topic in the Vrhbosna Archdiocese, and not a consequential one.

Online addresses followed. First, the President of the Institute of Anthropology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Dr. Hans Zollner, gave an introductory speech on the topic of this meeting.

He was followed by Dr. rev. Daniel Portillo Treviso, a priest, psychologist and professor also at the Institute of Anthropology at Gregoriana, speaking on the topic of Preventive Pastoral Care of Presbyters.

The Vicar judge, Episcopal Commissioner for the Protection of Minors and Professor of Canon Law at Franciscan Theology in Sarajevo, Dr. OFM Šimo Ivelj, spoke about the topic of Sexual Abuse of Minors and the Response of the Church in the Light of Canon Law.

Among other things, he further emphasized that Pope Francis is unstoppable when it comes to the protection of minors, and so, among other things, in 2021 he changed the entire VI. book of the Code of Canon Law, and thus the canon relating to pedophilia - 1398.

He also spoke about the ways of abuse - that is, which actions are all included in the same, and about the ways of reporting abuse of minors, ie vulnerable persons.

Finally, clinical psychologist and integrative psychotherapist Dr. Gordana Buljan Flander, who founded the Polyclinic for the Protection of Children and Youth of the City of Zagreb, gave a lecture on Child Abuse: signs, support, recovery.

Msgr. Slađan brought the working part of the program to an end by sharing with the gathered certain information about pastoral activities, and the socializing continued during a joint lunch in the premises of the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary.

Let us recall, this 26^th Congress of Priests operating in the Vrhbosna Archdiocese was held after it was cancelled in the previous two years due to a coronavirus pandemic.