"My goal and the goal of our parishioners with young children is to
preserve our faith and our nationality, and I feel that our
pre-school, children's liturgy, and language schools all contribute
to this."
Pastor Father Pavo (Paul) Norac-Kevo, OFM, from Otok, Croatia,
wrestles daily with Canada's rushed secular culture.
Though younger Croatians in Vancouver often feel pulled in two
directions, Father Norac-Kevo remains optimistic. Many young
Croatian-Canadian couples have large families and pray the Rosary
regularly. The pastor has encouraged this ongoing commitment by
inviting some under-40 members onto the parish council. This will,
he hopes, also allow the parish to implement the synod more robustly
than it has until now.
Immaculate Heart of Mary (Croatian) parish, though not officially a
national parish, ministers mainly to the Lower Mainland's widely
dispersed Croatian community. Seven hundred people attend its two
Sunday Masses in Croatian, with over 100 for the English Mass.
After a wave of post-World-War-II immigrants to Vancouver, in July
1960, about 100 Croatians decided to build a church. Archbishop
Carney blessed it in 1968. Immaculate Heart of Mary has been the
heart of the Croatian community since then; Croatians have a strong
bond to Rome, and Catholicism has an integral place in their
culture.
Father Norac-Kevo sees community-building and culture-retention
within his community as a primary responsibility. He relies on group
effort. At a plot of land the parish has in Richmond, parish council
members do the cooking for the summer picnics. The parish also
invites a steady stream of Croatian priests to Vancouver to help out
on Christmas Day, All Soul's Day, and Cardinal Stepinac Day.
Father Norac-Kevo and assistant pastor Father Dalibor Grcic hold the
community and its culture together with the Croatian traditional
house blessing, which they offer to everyone, not only new house
owners. Croatians see it as their duty to invite the priest over to
their house. As well, Father Norac-Kevo notes that hospitalized
members of the community respond much better to a Croatian priest.
Father Norac-Kevo also maintains community by remembering the
challenging beginnings of Vancouver's Croatian community. One of the
biggest days of the parish's year is Fisherman's Day, the second
Saturday in November. The earliest Croatians in Vancouver supported
their families in the fishing, mining, and forestry industries.
While Father Norac-Kevo takes care of some administrative burdens, a
retired accountant looks after the finances. Three nuns who are part
of the Sisters of Mercy convent, all originally from Croatia, look
after many secretarial and housekeeping tasks. It is traditional in
Croatia for religious women to devote themselves to parish work.
Sisters Albina, Benicija, and Alojzija also visit sick people and
lead the choirs. Sister Benicija taught catechism to children for
many years. Sister Albina prepares Grade 2 children for First
Communion, and Sister Alojzija teaches the Grade 1s. They use both
English and Croatian, though previously they only taught in their
country's language.
Father Norac-Kevo is implementing the synod through recent
initiatives involving the pre-school and the children's liturgy; the
latter of these turned out to be a big change for parish members.
He noted, "We started the children's liturgy approximately 2 months
ago at our 10 a.m. Sunday Mass. I suggested the idea of a children's
liturgy, and soon after, four of our young moms volunteered to teach
the children. They teach the children in both English and Croatian
so that the kids will understand the word of the Lord and also know
the Croatian language as it relates to the Bible. We currently have
approximately 20 children who regularly take part in the liturgy."
He added, "Our pre-school is taught by one of our parishioners who
is a certified ECE teacher. She teaches it on Wednesdays and
Mondays, and religion is the main component, in addition to the
Croatian language, which is taught in an immersion type of setting.
She speaks Croatian to the children but also explains new concepts
to them in English so they are receiving the best of both worlds!"
Another synod-related project of Father Norac-Kevo concerns the
isolation of the parish from the archdiocese. He has already
connected with the Vancouver East Deanery, to which Immaculate Heart
of Mary belongs, by bringing the Deanery's priests together. He also
aims to bring the Franciscans of the Lower Mainland together.
Immaculate Heart Parish already has deep roots in the synod's call
for increased devotions. Father Norac-Kevo said that Croatian
spirituality includes a strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin;
Croatia has been called the country of the Virgin Mary. It has at
least 15 sanctuaries of the Virgin Mary, and a very high
participation rate for her feasts.
Here in Vancouver, Immaculate Heart holds special gatherings for the
Feasts of the Assumption of Mary (Aug. 15), the Annunciation (March
15), and her Nativity (Sept. 8).
A traditional vocation
In Dalmatia, Father Norac-Kevo's part of Croatia, pastors are
usually Franciscan. Village life centres on the parish. Father
Norac-Kevo himself never doubted his vocation, because of the
Catholic culture of Croatia.
He said he can't forget how one day he and his brother, separated
from each other and their family for months because of their
studies, decided to visit their mother for a day. When the
tightly-knit family reunited and the brothers began chatting
excitedly, their mother insisted that they stop and pray the Rosary,
even though the family had precious little time together.
When the brothers hurried through the Rosary so that they could
continue their visit, their mother wondered aloud whether a future
priest could really pray so awfully.
Thus Father Norac-Kevo's vocation is built around village, church,
family, and the deep Catholic spirituality of the Croatian nation.
One thing he has been missing out on in his vocation while in
Canada, he said, is the much deeper connection Croatian priests have
with one another. Canadian priests seem more solitary to him, and he
could never follow the practice of taking Mondays off.
Father Norac-Kevo was ordained in 1993 in Split, Croatia, and spent
the next 10 years pastoring in four different rural and urban
parishes there. The wars destroyed many churches, and he helped to
rebuild some of them. He also taught in high schools.
Father Norac-Kevo noted that "everything is easier in Croatia"
because people are not as busy and are therefore more
community-minded, and because unlike here, priests are highly
appreciated and respected.
