In Goražde, the Church of the Drina Martyrs was solemnly opened: The ceremony was led by Archbishop of Vrhbosna Tomo Vukšić

(Patria) - In the presence of a large number of believers from BiH, Croatia and other parts of the world, as well as high-ranking guests of the Catholic Church led by Archbishop of Vrhbosna Tomo Vukšić, the Church of the Blessed Drina Martyrs was solemnly opened in Goražde today.

The first church dedicated to the nuns was built about a hundred meters from the place where they were killed on December 15, 1941.

Rade Buljubašić traveled to Goražde from Melbourne, Australia. He is originally from Metković. This is his fourth time in the city on the Drina.

"This is a big thing. Thanks to the authorities in this city of Goražde, where they ended their lives in a cruel way. They jumped from the third floor to avoid being raped, and that is something great. Peace and goodness should be given to these people. We are the same people, we just have two faiths. The same blood is in us," said Buljubašić.

Jula Ivanišević, Berchmana Leidenix, Krizina Bojanc, Antonija Fabjan and Bernadeta Banja

served in the monastery in Pale, when they were captured by Chetniks in December 1941 and taken to Goražde.

The oldest among them, Sister Berchmana, was killed during the difficult journey through snow and cold, while the others were imprisoned in the then barracks, on the very bank of the Drina. After drunken men broke into the premises where they were held, in order to preserve their honor, the nuns jumped out of the window from the second floor. Severely injured, the Chetniks finished them off with knives, and their bodies, in the days when about 8,000 inhabitants of this region suffered a similar fate, were thrown into the Drina.

By decree of the Pope in 2011, they were declared blessed. Since then, Goražde is not just a city, it is a vow, a place of pilgrimage, a reminder that holiness does not die, but is imprinted in stone, in water, in memory.