VUČIĆ: CHURCH IN BUGOJNO LIKE A PHOENIX - HAS RISEN FROM ASHES MANY TIMES

BUGOJNO, AUGUST 4 /SRNA/ - Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić today visited the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in Bugojno, which he said was like a phoenix, having risen from the ashes after being destroyed and burned down several times.

Vučić recalled that the church was razed to the ground in 1992, and then burned again in 2004 and 2007. "I think there is no other church that has been destroyed and burned so many times. Many of our churches have been, but this one in Čipuljić always rises from the ashes like a phoenix," Vučić said. He stressed that the Serbian Orthodox Church /SOC/ means a great deal to Serbs living in these areas. "This small number of them live in and around the church," Vučić said. Bugojno parish priest Slaviša Đurić said that the visit by the Serbian president was an encouragement for them — a sign that someone cares about them. He and Vučić discussed the history of this holy site and the centuries-old life of Serbs in Bugojno, noting that 11,000 Serbs lived there before the previous war and that they were prosperous and educated. "In May 1992, people fled from here, and a large number of those who remained were killed. There are police records for almost all of the civilians who were killed. There were horrific killings here," Đurić said, adding that the most difficult thing for him was an exhumation during which they found only the spine of a man who had been burned alive. He said that a terrible crime was also committed in the settlement of Potočani, where 12 people were killed - civilians, elderly people and women. Speaking about life in this parish, Đurić said that the people living there are, on average, 70 years old or older. "Today, only two Serbian children live in Bugojno — one has completed secondary school, while the other is currently attending it," parish priest Đurić said. The Bugojno parish priest also spoke about the period between the First and Second World Wars, as well as the 19th century, noting that the first school in the area that both boys and girls attended was located there. "One of the best Serbian Sokol societies, Soko, was based here. Unfortunately, during the Second World War, all the leading figures of that society were arrested and killed," parish priest Đurić said. He said that they had compiled a collection containing authentic testimonies about the suffering, and that one copy would be presented as a gift to Vučić. "In this parish, 730 out of 1,500 people were killed during the Second World War," Đurić said. Parish priest Đurić said that they are building another church, dedicated to the 500 children from the Kupres Plateau and the Skopaljska Valley who were killed. This church also houses a memorial donated by Anđelko Vučić, together with his sons Aleksandar and Andrej. Vučić has been visiting Republika Srpska and Serb municipalities in the Federation of BiH /FBiH/ since Sunday, during which he visited the Rmanj Monastery, Drvar, Sitnica near Ribnik, Mrkonjić Grad, Janjske Otoke and Vodice in the municipality of Šipovo, as well as Novo Selo in the municipality of Kupres in Republika Srpska. This evening, Vučić will attend the commemoration in Mrkonjić Grad marking the Day of Remembrance for those killed and expelled during the Croatian criminal Operation Storm. The criminal Operation Storm began on August 4, 1995, with an offensive by the Croatian Army and police, along with HVO units, in the regions of Banija, Lika, Kordun and northern Dalmatia, during which more than 220,000 Krajina Serbs were expelled from their ancestral homes.