Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples of PABiH Dr. Dragan Čović Attends 65th International Military-Pilgrimage in France with High-Level Delegation

"A high-level delegation from Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Dr. Dragan Čović, Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples of the Parliamentary Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina (PABiH), and Slaven Galić, Deputy Minister of Defence of BiH, is participating in the official events of the 65th International Military-Pilgrimage taking place at the Marian Shrine in Lourdes, Republic of France.

Catholic members of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, led by Archbishop of Vrhbosna and Apostolic Administrator of the Military Ordinariate in BiH, Mons. Tomo Vukšić, are undertaking this pilgrimage from 12 to 20 May 2025 in the French town of Lourdes, where soldiers and police officers from over 40 countries worldwide are gathered.

The official BiH delegation also includes Darijana Filipović, Member of the House of Representatives of PABiH; Major General Tomo Kolenda, Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of the BiH Armed Forces for Operations; Zoran Šajinović, Assistant Minister of Defence for International Cooperation; Danijela Bilić, Head of the Office of the Deputy Minister of Defence for Policy and Planning; and Brigadier Hrvoje Turudić, commanding the BiH Armed Forces’ ceremonial unit.

The International Military Pilgrimage features a rich spiritual programme, symbolising the reconciliation of warring sides from World War II in this small French town, where, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary appeared to the young Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.

Members of the BiH Ministry of Defence and Armed Forces began their pilgrimage with a Holy Mass on 12 May 2025 at the Parish of St. Anthony of Padua in Gornja Močila - Sijekovac, BiH. The following day, they met with pilgrims from the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia in Avignon, where Mons. Tomo Vukšić presided over the Mass, concelebrated by 24 priests—mostly military chaplains—including Mons. Željko Čuturić, Vicar General of the Military Ordinariate in BiH, and Mons. Ilija Jakovljević, Vicar General of the Military Ordinariate in Croatia.

Eucharistic celebrations and other rites for Catholic members of the BiH Armed Forces and the Croatian Armed Forces, conducted in Croatian as part of the pilgrimage programme, are led by Military Bishop Mons. Tomo Vukšić, concelebrating with other priests and military chaplains. Yesterday, after a joint Holy Mass in Croatian before the Grotto of Apparitions in Lourdes, a military procession and the Way of the Cross followed. On Friday, 16 May, a morning Holy Mass was celebrated in the Basilica of the Queen of the Holy Rosary as part of the military pilgrimage in Lourdes." (Statement from the Office of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Peoples, Dr. Dragan Čović)