The university community of the Catholic University of Croatia (HKS) marked the Remembrance Day for the Victims of the Homeland War and the Remembrance Day for the Victims of Vukovar and Škabrnja with a commemorative programme on Tuesday, 17 November 2020. Along with Mass and prayer for those who died, the programme included a history lecture and the presentation of a student humanitarian initiative for schoolchildren in Vukovar.
The programme began with Mass in the University Chapel for all the fallen defenders and civilian victims of Vukovar and Škabrnja. It was celebrated by the university chaplain, Fr Odilon Singbo, with the rector of HKS, Prof. Željko Tanjić, and the head of the Department of Communication Sciences, Prof. Jerko Valković, concelebrating.
The commemorative programme was prepared by “Homo volans,” the HKS History Students’ Club. The gathering continued in the “Blessed Alojzije Cardinal Stepinac” Hall and could also be followed via a live stream on the university’s YouTube channel. After the national anthem of the Republic of Croatia, Chaplain Singbo led a prayer for all those who died in Vukovar and Škabrnja.
Student assistance for schoolchildren in Vukovar
Jakov Blagojević, a student in the Department of History and a member of “Homo volans,” presented the humanitarian initiative “Croatian Students for the Children of Vukovar,” announced for the period from 16 to 30 November 2020. Its aim was to raise money for the Siniša Glavašević Primary School in Vukovar, to pay for warm milk-based meals for children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Blagojević said that they were carrying out the initiative in cooperation with students from other universities as a small contribution to a city they did not want to leave to be forgotten and which is important to the history of the country. “What is little to us means a great deal to someone else,” he said, inviting participants to make voluntary contributions to HKS’s bank account, the number of which was available on the university website.
Lecture on the Battle of Vukovar
The lecture “The Battle of Vukovar” was delivered by Dr Ana Holjevac Tuković, an external associate of HKS from the Croatian Memorial-Documentation Centre of the Homeland War. She reflected on the siege of Vukovar and the innocent civilians and defenders who lost their lives, and presented the events preceding 18 November 1991.
Rector Tanjić thanked the speaker for her presentation and expressed particular gratitude to the students and the “Homo volans” club for organising the gathering and providing tangible assistance to Vukovar. “I am proud of you, dear students, for organising this initiative for the second time, an initiative that, as the university chaplain noted, is becoming a concrete sign of love and care for our Vukovar,” he said.
He recalled that HKS had organised a trip to Vukovar on 18 November for eight consecutive years, but that in 2020 they were unable to go for the first time because of epidemiological measures. “May this small act of remembrance, this act of recalling, be a grateful remembrance of the sacrifice of Vukovar’s defenders, of all those who gave their lives for the freedom of our homeland, and of those who died innocently in Škabrnja,” the rector said.
Marija Stanešić, president of the “Homo volans” student association, who moderated the programme, thanked Dr Holjevac Tuković for accepting the invitation and presented her with a commemorative gift. The official part of the gathering concluded with the lighting of lanterns together outside the Catholic University of Croatia building.
As part of the initiative at the time, which ran until 30 November 2020, contributions for meals for schoolchildren in Vukovar were collected in donation boxes at the entrance to the University’s old building and at the Student Affairs Office. The appeal also provided for bank transfers to the university IBAN **HR1123400091110353987**, with payment reference HR 00 and the payer’s OIB. These details refer to the 2020 appeal, not to a current fundraising initiative.
