Patriarch in Donja Gradina: We bow to the martyrs who, through their suffering, bore witness to faith, love, and the dignity of the human person
On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the genocide against Serbians, Jews, and Roma in the Independent State of Croatia, His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije served a memorial service on 19 April 2026, for the victims of the Ustaše crime at the Hrastovi burial field in the Donja Gradina Memorial Area, and on that occasion delivered the following homily:
Christ is risen! Brothers and sisters, there is no more exalted or powerful place from which this life-giving greeting can be proclaimed more forcefully and heard more widely than at the place of the Crucifixion of the innocent Christ the Lord near Jerusalem, and here at the site of the most terrible Golgotha of the Serbian people. This holy place, Donja Gradina – a land soaked with tears yet sanctified by prayer – has gathered us today. Here, words in themselves are not enough. Here, above all, what is needed is the silence of the heart, a silence in which we listen to the voices of those who, through their suffering, bore witness to faith, love, and the dignity of the human person. What is needed, first and foremost and above all, is prayer.
Therefore, today we prayerfully bow before the Holy Martyrs of Jasenovac, our innocent forefathers, the children of Saint Sava, who passed through the darkness of human evil by way of Christ’s Cross and entered into the light of His Resurrection. Their suffering did not remain only within the history of this world but has become a testimony before the face of God – a testimony of faith that does not fade even when it seems that everything is shrouded in darkness. At the same time, we also remember the innocent victims from the Jewish and Roma peoples.
In these days, the Church lives the mystery of the Resurrection from the dead – the mystery of the Victory over death, the mystery of the Triumph of life. Therefore, in this place where human malice sought to speak the final word, we confess that the final word belongs to Life, to Love, to Christ. For Christ has risen from the dead, thereby showing that death is not the end, that evil is not stronger than good, and that darkness cannot conceal the light.
In that Paschal light we behold our Holy Martyrs and quietly confess in our hearts that they are not defeated but glorified in Christ. Through faith in the Resurrection, we know that those who suffered here are not dead, but are alive in the Lord, and that their wounds are not defeat, but a living seal that speaks of faithfulness and love for God and for every human being as a gift and an icon of God.
We do not come to this holy place only to remember the past, but to learn from the Holy Martyrs of Jasenovac how to live in the present – to preserve faith in our hearts, not to allow bitterness to fill them, to remain people of prayer, people of joy, peace, truth, and justice, people who know that life is a gift of God, and that the final word and the final judgment belong to God, the Master of life and death.
May the Holy Martyrs of Jasenovac strengthen us by their prayers, so that we too may carry our cross with faith and hope, constantly gazing toward the light that springs from Christ’s empty tomb, and joyfully, with one mouth and one heart, sing the Paschal hymn: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!
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According to data from the Donja Gradina Memorial Area, 700,000 victims of the Ustaše crime perished in the notorious Jasenovac camp during the Second World War, including 500,000 Serbians. On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Ustaše crime of genocide in the Jasenovac concentration camp and its largest execution site, Donja Gradina, a Day of Mourning was declared in the Republic of Srpska. The commemoration of the victims began with the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Kozarska Dubica, served by His Grace Bishop Vicar Bishop of Marča kyr Sava. The highest delegation of the Republic of Serbia, led by President Aleksandar Vučić, laid flowers at the Topole burial field in Donja Gradina, while at the nearby Hrastovi burial field the memorial service was served by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije, with the concelebration of Metropolitan of Banja Luka kyr Jefrem and Vicar Bishop of Marča kyr Sava.
Christ is risen! Brothers and sisters, there is no more exalted or powerful place from which this life-giving greeting can be proclaimed more forcefully and heard more widely than at the place of the Crucifixion of the innocent Christ the Lord near Jerusalem, and here at the site of the most terrible Golgotha of the Serbian people. This holy place, Donja Gradina – a land soaked with tears yet sanctified by prayer – has gathered us today. Here, words in themselves are not enough. Here, above all, what is needed is the silence of the heart, a silence in which we listen to the voices of those who, through their suffering, bore witness to faith, love, and the dignity of the human person. What is needed, first and foremost and above all, is prayer.
Therefore, today we prayerfully bow before the Holy Martyrs of Jasenovac, our innocent forefathers, the children of Saint Sava, who passed through the darkness of human evil by way of Christ’s Cross and entered into the light of His Resurrection. Their suffering did not remain only within the history of this world but has become a testimony before the face of God – a testimony of faith that does not fade even when it seems that everything is shrouded in darkness. At the same time, we also remember the innocent victims from the Jewish and Roma peoples.
In these days, the Church lives the mystery of the Resurrection from the dead – the mystery of the Victory over death, the mystery of the Triumph of life. Therefore, in this place where human malice sought to speak the final word, we confess that the final word belongs to Life, to Love, to Christ. For Christ has risen from the dead, thereby showing that death is not the end, that evil is not stronger than good, and that darkness cannot conceal the light.
In that Paschal light we behold our Holy Martyrs and quietly confess in our hearts that they are not defeated but glorified in Christ. Through faith in the Resurrection, we know that those who suffered here are not dead, but are alive in the Lord, and that their wounds are not defeat, but a living seal that speaks of faithfulness and love for God and for every human being as a gift and an icon of God.
We do not come to this holy place only to remember the past, but to learn from the Holy Martyrs of Jasenovac how to live in the present – to preserve faith in our hearts, not to allow bitterness to fill them, to remain people of prayer, people of joy, peace, truth, and justice, people who know that life is a gift of God, and that the final word and the final judgment belong to God, the Master of life and death.
May the Holy Martyrs of Jasenovac strengthen us by their prayers, so that we too may carry our cross with faith and hope, constantly gazing toward the light that springs from Christ’s empty tomb, and joyfully, with one mouth and one heart, sing the Paschal hymn: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life! Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen!
***
According to data from the Donja Gradina Memorial Area, 700,000 victims of the Ustaše crime perished in the notorious Jasenovac camp during the Second World War, including 500,000 Serbians. On the occasion of the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the Ustaše crime of genocide in the Jasenovac concentration camp and its largest execution site, Donja Gradina, a Day of Mourning was declared in the Republic of Srpska. The commemoration of the victims began with the Divine Liturgy in the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul in Kozarska Dubica, served by His Grace Bishop Vicar Bishop of Marča kyr Sava. The highest delegation of the Republic of Serbia, led by President Aleksandar Vučić, laid flowers at the Topole burial field in Donja Gradina, while at the nearby Hrastovi burial field the memorial service was served by His Holiness Serbian Patriarch kyr Porfirije, with the concelebration of Metropolitan of Banja Luka kyr Jefrem and Vicar Bishop of Marča kyr Sava.