It was a symbolic handshake, one of peace in the spirit of St. Ignatius, that kicked off a day-long encounter between us (eight scholastics in their philosophy cycle and one in his regency) and 3 Slovene scholastics (Marko Pavlič, Rok Bečan, and Egon Hriberšek). The event took place on Saturday 20th at the formation centre of Fratrovac.

The initial mass was one of thanksgiving to the Lord for such a moment of grace. In his homily, Fr. Cindori shared a very meaningful message to any Jesuit: the world is our home and we must be willing to go where others do not. After mass, we headed to the Croatian Zagorje and visited Veliki Tabor, a castle very close to the Slovenian border. The castle is of particular interest to us Jesuits, as it was here that Fr. Nikola Ratkay, a 17th century Jesuit missionary in India, was born.

Having had a good dose of history, it was time for lunch and friendly discussions at Grešna gorica, a local Croatian restaurant. We wrapped up the day by a visit to the Shrine of St. Mary in Marija Bistrica. The rector himself, Fr. Matošević, recounted the history of the shrine and was kind enough to invite us to the parish house, where he shared with us what is a usual day like on the site.

By then, our fellow Slovene scholastics had to return home in preparation for Sunday’s apostolic work. Next time, it will be their turn to host us. We hope to meet them soon.