The Franciscan Minister General in Herzegovina – burial of the earthly remains of three Franciscans killed in 1945

The Franciscan Minister General, Fr. Jose Rodrigues Carballo, will visit the Herzegovinian Franciscan province of the Assumption of Mary from the 7^th to the 10^th of October, 2007. He will meet the friars in Tomislavgrad, Mostar, Humac, Konjic and Medjugorje. The central event will be the Canonical welcome of the General in Široki Brijeg on October 9, where he will celebrate Holy Mass in Latin at 11 o’clock.

On this occasion the burial of the earthly remains of three Herzegovinian Franciscans murdered by the communists in Zagvozd in 1945 will take place. According to Slobodna Dalmacija 17 bodies were found in a mass tomb in Zagvozd on the 11^th of April, 2005. The bodies of three Franciscans were identified: Fr. Melhior Prlić, Fr. Zdenko Zubac and Fr. Julijan Kožul. Five other Franciscans taken by the communists in Široki Brijeg in February 1945 may be among those who have not yet been identified.

The earthly remains of Fr. Melhior Prlić, Fr. Zdenko Zubac and Fr. Julijan Kožul will be buried in the church in Široki Brijeg, next to 18 other Franciscans murdered by the communists in February 1945.