On November 19th 2017, at St. Theresa"s Church in Dublin, the Croatian Chaplaincy in Ireland and the Croatian Embassy in Ireland organised a holy mass to mark the anniversary of the horrors of war in Vukovar, Borovo Naselje and škabrnja , remembering all those who lost their lives in the Homeland War. The mass was offered by Fr. Josip Levakovic, head of the Croatian Chaplaincy in Ireland, accompanied by the Breskovac family who organised the musical programme during and after the mass. Ambassador Mašina attended the mass with his family. Fr. Josip mentioned all the brave Croatian soldiers who gave, invested and used their talents, their courage and their patriotism in defence of their Homeland. We would not have our Croatian homeland today had they not done so. It is a Christian patriotism, said Fr. Josip, quoting the servant of God, Cardinal Franjo Kuharic: "Love of God is necessarily love of the fellow human, and love of the fellow human is patriotism! Therefore, our patriotism cannot be poisoned by even one drop of hatred or desire for revenge. (...) Our patriotism cannot be racist, nor imperialistic, nor chauvinist. Our patriotism is Christian." The mass was followed by a cultural and musical programme organised by the Croatian Chaplaincy and the Croatian community to commemorate the victims of Vukovar.
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