Don Pero Miličević: “I forgave those who killed my father”
Fr. Pero Miličević, a priest from Mostar, at the Rimini Meeting of August, highlighted the power of forgiveness and mercy
During the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s, he lost eight family members in a single day and spent seven months in a concentration camp.
Despite these atrocities, he chose to forgive those who killed his father, recognizing that forgiveness is essential for healing and living according to the Gospel.
This experience underscores the importance of works of mercy and the mission to spread the message of peace and reconciliation. The Jubilee represents an opportunity to reflect on forgiveness and being shown mercy, promoting a culture of peace and dialogue.
“There are two things that cannot be separated: forgiveness given and forgiveness received. Many times the evil received is so great that being able to forgive seems like climbing a very high mountain.
But alone we cannot, it takes God’s grace, we should ask for it.”
It is the reciprocity of mercy that Pope Francis explains at the March 18, 2020, general audience and that is found strong and powerful in the story of Fr. Pero Miličević, a young priest from Mostar, the city that saw its symbol, the Old Bridge, torn down in 1993 by Croatian units.
Those were dramatic times with Mostar divided in two between the Croat-Bosnian forces occupying the western part and the army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the east, where Bosnian Muslims lived…
(by Benedetta Capelli – Rimini)