Day of the UNSA Faculty of Catholic Theology and awarding of diplomas to masters of theology
On the holiday of St. Luke, on Friday, 18 October the UNSA Faculty of Catholic Theology celebrated its heavenly patron with a Eucharistic celebration and a formal academy.
Mass in the seminary church of St. Cyril and Methodius was celebrated by the great chancellor of this higher education institution, the Archbishop of Vrhbosna, metropolitan mons. Tomo Vukšić in concelebration with about 30 priests, among whom was the dean of the KBF, Dr. Pres. Mario Bernadić, Vice-Rector of the Vrhbosna Theological Seminary, Dr. Ljubo Zadrić.
At the beginning of the appropriate sermon entitled If you are a theologian, you will really pray, and if you pray, you are really a theologian, Msgr. Vukšić reminded that the coming year 2025 will be marked as a jubilee in the entire Catholic Church and that due to the necessary spiritual preparation of individual believers and the entire community for this grateful marking of the beginning of the history of salvation in the way of Jesus, Pope Francis on 21 January 2024, exactly on Sunday Words of God, invited the entire Church to strengthen its prayer so that everyone could prepare well for this gracious event.
The legacy of St. Luke
"...As part of the Year of Prayer, it seems appropriate today, on the feast of Saint Luke, to remember that he bequeathed to the Church one of the four gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, which can also be called the first book on the history of the Church. In both of these books of the Holy Scriptures, the element and description of prayer is repeated very often, starting with the prayer of Jesus through Mary's and ending with the prayer of the disciples, women and the early Christian community. Interpreting this phenomenon and the practice of prayer, Pope Benedict XVI said in one of his catechisms: 'The course of the early Church is determined above all by the action of the Holy Spirit, which transforms the apostles into witnesses of the Risen One until the shedding of blood, as well as the rapid spread of God's word to the east and west. . (...) In Jerusalem, the apostles, of whom eleven remained due to the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, are gathered in the house for prayer and it is in prayer that they expect the gift of the Risen Christ - the Holy Spirit noted that good connoisseurs of the Holy Scriptures say that the evangelist Luke placed prayer at the center of his gospel more than other evangelists and that he did so especially by placing Jesus praying in the center and by paying attention to the attitude that the Christian believer should take while praying.
"In Luke's Gospel, Jesus prepares for great events by praying before making important decisions and often retreating to secluded places to pray to the Heavenly Father. And when he describes Jesus praying, Luke also thinks of the Christian believer, because for him prayer is always a way and an exercise to overcome the adversities, traps and temptations of this world in the way of Jesus. In addition, the description of the moments in which Jesus prays is also a kind of school of prayer in which Jesus receives his disciples and primarily teaches by his example how to pray and shows everyone that prayer is important and that one should pray. This is especially true in decisive moments of life", said the archbishop, adding that the peak of Jesus' prayer, his school of prayer and instruction to his disciples is found in Luke's description of the moments immediately before Jesus' condemnation and torment and especially before his death while hanging on the cross.
Sources of theology
"The peak of Jesus' prayer, his school of prayer and instruction to the disciples is found in Luke's description of the moments immediately before Jesus' condemnation and torment and especially before his death while hanging on the cross. Luke says that according to custom, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, followed by his disciples. He called them to pray so that he would not fall into temptation, and on his knees he begged the heavenly Father, if it was his will, to remove the cup of pain from him (cf. Lk 22:39-42)", pointed out Msgr. Vukšić.
Furthermore, the preacher said that before all other theologians, it was Jesus and the apostles in their own way, and emphasized that they are the revelation of God and the source of theology and that without them there is simply no Christian theology.
"They nourished it through prayer and applied it in prayer, because they were aware that theology is much more faith than knowledge. That is why, in the following period when Christian scientific theology was being created and when it was given direction for all time, its best creators said: "If you are a theologian, you will really pray, and if you pray, you are really a theologian" (for example: Gregory of Nazianzus , Evagrije Pontik). That is, their message is: either the Church will create its best theology again and live on its knees, or it will close itself in learned and boring debates about a distant God, which are regularly useless and dangerous because they distance people from God", concluded the archbishop of Vrhbosna, saying that one must learn from Jesus and the apostles and from the great and holy teachers of theology, our spiritual ancestors and role models.
Development of catechetical instruction
After the Eucharist, in the hall of Paul VI. the academic act followed, and the ceremony began with the singing of the hymn Gaudemaus igitour performed by the VBS Theological Choir. At the beginning of his address, Dean Dr. Bernadić greeted those present and then presented the work of the KBF in the past year, highlighting numerous different projects, scientific meetings and especially the three important books published: The Book of Tobi: translation and commentary, Prof. Dr. Mate Zovkića, In the service of God's people: a guide through parish administration and regional law, ed. Prof. Dr. Ilija Marković, published by the KBF in co-publishing with the Archbishopric of Vrhbosna, and the Neochalcedonian Christology of Leonicius of Jerusalem, Prof. Dr. Josip Knežević. Two issues of the Vrhbosnensia magazine were also published.
This was followed by a short address by Msgr. Vukšić, in the role of the great chancellor of the KBF, and the welcoming speech of the Rector of the University of Sarajevo, Prof. Dr. Tarik Zaimović and the Minister of Science, Higher Education and Youth of Sarajevo Canton, Prof. Dr. Adna Mesihović.
After the welcome speeches, an appropriate lecture entitled Parish Catechesis. The repainting of old signposts with a bad color was held by the provost of the Stonal Chapter of Vrhbosanski, Prof. Dr. Msgr. Pavo Jurišić, professor of religious pedagogy and missiology at KBF, who, among other things, reminded that the development of catechetical instruction in our area had its own path. "After the missionary form of religious education, which marked the four-hundred-year period of life under Ottoman rule, and from the Austro-Hungarian occupation until the end of the Second World War, religious education was taught in schools - where there were schools - and in the entire territory of our Archdiocese, catechetical instruction was carried out in parishes and villages in the form of catechetical sermons according to prescribed catechisms. After the expulsion of religious education from schools and the closing of church activity to church premises under the communist regime, our Church tried to act in the new social reality in the parish to ensure the transmission of faith, making sure that, along with sociocultural tradition, the role of a symbol of the Christian faith was given to the young generations, and the pedagogical educational methods what every Christian should learn and know. In such an atmosphere, a form of teaching of faith was born in our country, which we could label today as parish catechesis", the lecturer pointed out.
Awards ceremony
After the lecture and music, the master of theology promotion followed. The following were promoted: Marijana Rosan, Augustin Barković (excused absence) and Marin Petrović. Marijana Rosan thanked the professors and mentors on behalf of the newly promoted masters.
After the promotion of the new master's degrees, prizes were awarded: The Grand Chancellor's Prize went to Marin Petrović, who passed all study subjects with the best result of 9.3 determined by the sum of grades and the overall average of 9.77 (all subjects, final exam, graduate thesis). Prize dean for the best achievement was awarded to student Nikolina Jukić, who in the past academic year 2023/24. passed all exams from III. year of study, achieving a score of 9.77. Marin Petrović, who wrote the final paper under the mentorship of Assoc. Dr. Ivan Raka.
This year, awards were also given to non-teaching staff for exceptional dedication to their work. The following were awarded: Nikolini Tomšić, head of the student service for quality work on the implementation of the EUNA system at KBF, and Faculty employee Mario Jurišić, also, for quality and creative work on the implementation of that project.
The academy ended with a traditional joint photo shoot of the master of theology, the great chancellor, the rector, the minister, the dean and the vice dean.
