Video: Despite his health problems, Cardinal Bosnio Puljic made his oath for the conclave in the Sistine Chapel

Cardinal Bosnian Vinko Puljić, whose presence in the conclave was in doubt for his health problems, finally managed to pronounce his oath with deep emotion to seal the secret that surrounds the conclave.

At first his doctors had advised him to cast his vote from the Santa Marta house. In fact, Archbishop Emeritus of VRHBOSNA (Bosnia and Herzegovina), for whom it is his third conclave, even warned that he would not go to Rome.

“My health does not allow me to travel to the third conclave. Doctors do not advise me and I don’t feel that I can endure it. I have not planned to travel to Rome unless the Vatican asks me specifically,” said Vecernji List to the newspaper. However, finally, he could participate.

Cardinal Puljić has entered the Sistine Chapel not without difficulties. He walked slowly, renqueating, helped by a cane and also grabbed the arm of a prelate that accompanied him.

All the cardinals left around 15:45 the Santa Marta house where they are staying during the conclave and went to the Apostolic Palace. Together they prayed in the Paulina chapel and walked in procession down the hall until they reached the Sistine Chapel, while singing the litanies of the saints.

A prophetic voice against war

Cardinal Vinko Puljić, Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo, has been a key figure for the church in the Balkans during the last decades, especially during and after the conflicts that shook the region in the 90s. He was born on September 8, 1945 in Banja Luka (then Yugoslavia), in the bosom a large family with 13 children, without just resources, but of deep resources, but of deep resources. His mother died when he was just 3 years old, and his father married again. His stepmother Ana raised him as if she were her own son.

During his studies at the Minor Seminary of Zagreb, a local Trapense monk sold his motorcycle to help Vinko’s father pay his pension, showing the support he received to follow his vocation despite the economic difficulties of his family.

Puljić was consecrated Bishop by San Juan Pablo II himself on January 6, 1991, in full geopolitical transformation of Eastern Europe. He was sent to direct the Archdiocese of VRHBOSNA, whose headquarters was Sarajevo, just before the outbreak of the Bosnian war.

During the war (1992–1995), Puljić became one of the clearest voices in favor of peace, reconciliation and human rights, denouncing atrocities and defending the most vulnerable, especially among refugees and displaced.

Despite the bombings, he continued to make pastoral visits, even being held by the Serbian army for 12 hours on one occasion.

With 49 years in 1994, he was the youngest cardinal

In 1994, John Paul II raised him to Cardinalato, thus becoming the first cardinal in the modern history of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

It was a way to recognize its value and leadership in an ecclesial and political context extremely delicate.

Created Cardinal by John Paul II in November 1994, he became at that time, with 49 years, the youngest member of the Cardinal College. He will turn 80 on September 8.

Although he presented his resignation to the Archdiocese on several occasions, he was finally accepted in 2022, since then to be Archbishop Emeritus of Sarajevo.

Throughout his ministry, Puljić also presided several times the Episcopal Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina and was a key interlocutor between religions, highlighting for his commitment to interreligious dialogue in a region marked by ethnic and religious divisions.