Zagabria (Croatia). The Community of St. Joseph of Zagreb, of the Slovenian-Croatian Mary Help of Christians (SLC) Province, organized a meeting for young people on the theme: “Getting to know Ukraine, a contribution to peace”.
About 2,000 Ukrainians live in Croatia, belonging to the Greek-Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite, in communion with the Catholic Church of Rome. The FMA Community invited their Bishop, Msgr. Milan Stipić, to explain the situation in Ukraine and share the experience of welcoming Ukrainian refugees. The meeting, together with the FMA of the Community, was attended by the young women of the Period of Assessment and Guidance (PVO), a representative of the university hostel “Laura”, a group of young people from the Salesian Parish of St. Mary of Liberty, and some Past Pupils of the FMA.
In the introduction, Bishop Stipić presented the history of Ukraine and the socio-political-cultural situation. He illustrated its religious structure, starting from his own experience of living some years in Ukraine in the Greek-Catholic seminary. He also referred to the Christian perspective of peace, speaking of the challenge and the need to build peace, not as a short-term initiative, but as a more articulated educational process, which includes looking after the spiritual dimension of people from which comes the maturation of a mentality. In fact, one educates and is educated to peace.
He explained that at the basis of a spirit of peace, there is dialogue between peoples, between Churches, and between religions. The Christian perspective is always theological-spiritual-integral. The peace of a person, in all its dimensions, is the first step on the ladder towards authentic peace, concluded Msgr. Stipić.
The young people were then invited to share their thoughts in groups, on peace and how concretely to create a mentality of peace in everyday life, according to an evangelical lifestyle, so that the heart of the person, of families, of communities, of parishes will initiate education to peace.
In the questions to Archbishop Stipić, the young people were interested in the relationship between the Churches in Ukraine, as they noticed some similarities that unite the Croatian people, tried by war 30 years ago, and the Ukrainian people. The young people were also able to hear the testimony of a young Greek-Catholic seminarian from Ukraine who told the situation from his point of view and from his vocation.
The meeting ended with a moment of prayer for the peace of all humanity, especially towards the peoples at war. The young people, when reading their intentions for peace, lit a candle as a sign of solidarity and closeness to those who suffer. After the Bishop’s blessing, they remained for a time of spontaneous sharing, showing great interest in this issue.
