There are a lot of countries where the main (or only) things to see are churches and sanctuaries. With Zagreb, that's not the case, at least in my opinion. Nevertheless, one parish in Zagreb's neighborhood, Remete, really caught my eye. It's a parish with a rich history but also with a very promising future. 

Photo credit: Antonio-Mario Čirko/Remete parish

Stories from the past

The Shrine of Saint Mary of Remete, the proclaimer of Croatia is situated in the northern part of Zagreb, on the slopes of the forested Medvednica. On the front door of the parish, it is carved in stone: "This building was erected by the devotion of Mary." An interesting fact is that, even for the historians, the time of creation of the parish remains a mystery until today. Its oldest traces go back to the 13th century when the first Paulist came here from Hungary. He was a monk called Iskvirln, by all accounts, a Croat by birth which was written by numerous Paulists writers and annalists. He was, allegedly, sent to Croatia to establish a Paulist community, a solitary ecclesiastical order named after St. Paul, the first solitudinarian.

Photo credit: Elvir Tabaković

The important event of parish history was on 9th of November, 1880. Church, monastery, and the rectory suffered great damages. It was proposed to be knocked down and divided into neighboring parishes. But, the thought about the reconstruction of the parish prevailed, and they did everything in their power to be preserved. Later on, during the 1960s, cardinal bl. Alojzije Stepinac invited the order of Carmelites to come to the Remete parish which made it once again a place of pilgrimage. 

The importance of Remete parish

The thing that really caught my eye about this parish wasn't its rich and interesting history. It was the fact that it's one of the most modern parishes in Zagreb. During the preparation of this blog, I contacted Mr. Antonio-Mario Čirko who really awed me with all the things they are doing for promoting and renovating their parish. Pastor Čirko told me a lot about the things they do. Today, the sanctuary is protected as part of the cultural heritage, and it became even more important when it was discovered that next to today's church (which dates from the 13th century), there are also the remains of two more churches no one knew about. You could say that that alone, changes the whole history of this marvelous place. Along with all that, the parish, with Mr. Čirko, cooperates with the Zagreb Tourist Board, promoting the history and culture of the city and country. How do they do it? 

Photo credit: Elvir Tabaković

Multimedia parish for modern times

A lot of churches still struggle to approach their younger fellow members and to keep them interested in the events connected to their church, because, as we all very well know, younger generations live in a semi-digital world. If the sentence: "It didn't happen if it wasn't on TV" was valid 20 years ago, today, that same sentence would sound something like this: "It didn't happen if it hadn't appeared online." And I must say, the Remete parish is very much online. First of all, not only do they have a website, they have a really modern one. I remember, when I was a kid, we had to wait for the first class of R.E. to see our local priest outside the church, while on this website, you can see all the entire personnel on their website. How cool is that? 

Photo credit: Antonio-Mario Čirko/Remete parish

If you lived somewhere under the rock for the past 15 years, there's still a very small chance you haven't heard about social media. And what does the Remete parish has to say about social media? They say: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. Now, if the website was cool, then this is absolutely awesome! Not only do they have all those social media accounts, but they are also pretty active on them. Along with that, they are publishing pretty great content. Take a look at their promotional video for instance. I think it's really special.
Upon seeing all of this for the first time, I was amazed, but the funny thing is, their "multimediality" doesn't end there. They also have a Google group with over 500 people receiving daily news about the parish and the thing that probably amazed me the most was the fact that you can stream the events from the sanctuary through a 24-hour live stream. All with two cameras! If you are not easily impressed and you are shrugging right now, be sure to stop because if you asked yourself: "That's all ok, but do they have an app?". Well, of course, they do have an app, and you can download it for free. Just click on the word "app." 

Photo credit: Elvir Tabaković 

The parish is also turned to those who like more serious stuff, with their digital, online library. And if you are in a mood for a laugh, they also have their digital comics. Check them out, it really made me laugh. If you would like to see the parish from the inside, but you're far away, don't worry. They came up with a solution for that, too. Take a virtual walk through the halls of the sanctuary. It will surely develop a desire to visit it personally. It surely had that effect on me. 

Photo credit: Elvir Tabaković

Header Image Credit: Elvir Tabaković

Author: Tibor Trupec