“It is impressive to see how soldiers from other countries salute to our flag”, Minister Kotromanovi\u0107 said after meeting with the heaviest war disabled veterans who were in Lourdes, together with our soldiers, policemen, and firemen.<\/p>\n
He noted that we should continue this tradition of pilgrimage to Lourdes. This is a good opportunity to meet the soldiers, and exchange experience, especially in a place like this where there is spirit of community – said Kotromanovic.
In Lourdes, we feel the spirit of togetherness, the spirit of peace and joy among those who were here. We have been certainly recognized here, said Minister of Veterans Mati\u0107.<\/p>\n
General Lovri\u0107, who was commander of the pilgrimage in 2005 emphasized that coming to Lourdes is an extraordinary event to all members of the Croatian Armed Forces because here they meet with soldiers from other countries in a special environment. “Members of the Armed Forces contribute to the reputation of the Republic of Croatia in the world which is particularly important here” General Lovri\u0107 said.<\/p>\n
“I am happy that our policemen who perform a difficult, stressful and responsible job, see pilgrimage as a spiritual renewal, and this is extremely important for their work. This is a great gain for us all”, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Tonkovi\u0107 said.<\/p>\n
Croatian delegation took part in the pilgrimage activities, and visited the members of the Armed Forces who have been placed in an international military camp. On this occasion, the Camp Commander, Captain Franck Petitfils said that cooperation with Croatian soldiers, who were very much involved in the organization and activities in the camp, was excellent, expressing his belief that this would continue in the future as well.<\/p>\n
This year’s 54th<\/sup> International Military Pilgrimage is held under the motto “Hail Mary Full of Grace”, and among the pilgrims from more than 34 countries, there is nearly 1000 pilgrims from Croatia. Pilgrimage in Lourdes also joined members of the historical Croatian forces, Croatian Navy Band St. George and Armed Forces Orchestra. Military Ordinary Bishop Juraj Jezerinac also attended the pilgrimage. Defence Minister Ante Kotromanovi\u0107, Veterans Minister Predrag Mati\u0107, Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Drago Lovri\u0107, and Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs Evelin Tonkovi\u0107 joined on May 13, in Lourdes, the participants of our 20th<\/sup> military-police pilgrimage, which is conducted together with the armies of more than 30 countries participating at the 54th International Military Pilgrimage. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":37970,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
The commander of the pilgrimage is Commodore Tihomir Erceg and his deputy is Brigadier General Ivan Juric.<\/p>\n[nggallery id=821]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"