The 13th anniversary of the visit of the Holy Father John Paul II to Banja Luka and Petricevac and beautification of Ivan Merz will be marked today with Holy Mass in the parish Petricevac.
Holy Mass, led by the Bishop of Banja Luka Franjo Komarica, at which are expected officials of the Croatian people in BiH institutions, will be celebrated in the parish and the monastery church of St. Anthony of Padua in Petricevac.
Pope John Paul II, the then head of the Catholic Church, visited the city of Banja Luka and the state of BiH on the 22nd of June 2003.
The Eucharistic celebration and meeting with the Holy Father were organized on the foundations of the ruined Church of St. Anthony of Padua on Petricevac.
In the next years started and it is still ongoing reconstruction of the parish church, whose dedication is planned for today.
Franciscan Monastery Petricevac has historical significance and it is located on the edge of Banja Luka, from the left side of the transit road from Banja Luka to Bosanska Gradiska.
The first monastery was built in the 60’s of the 19th century.
It suffered the tragic history of demolition and destruction on several occasions, in an earthquake in 1969 and the war in 1992.
Last demolition took place on the 7th of May 1995, when an explosive completely destroyed the parish church and the monastery was burned, when Alojzije Atilija, the oldest member of the monastic community of Franciscans, died.
Fra Atilija got a heart attack that night, and when everyone from the monastery went on the monastery farm before the explosion and a fire, he remained dead on the floor.
The monastery and parish Petricevac, as well as the whole monastery area that is stretching to Bosanska Krajina, had a turbulent past, both dark and light moments.
The present, after the expulsion of Croats and Catholics in 1995, is quite bleak, but in this parish believe that the future might be brighter.
(Source: fokus.ba)
