Il Presidente della Repubblica della Croazia, Dott. Franjo Tuđman, ha invitato un gruppo di operatori culturali ben noti agli uffici presidenziali, al fine di decidere cosa donare al Papa durante la sua visita a Zagabria. Ad eccezione del presidente, seduto al tavolo erano presenti Bozo Biskupic, l'eminente scultore Kruno Bošnjak, il pittore, Prof. Josip Biffel, il dottor Jure Radic, Presidente del Comitato di benvenuto per il Papa, Ivan Lacković-Croata e Ratko Vince. E 'stata la decisione del Presidente che sia chiamata "la Croce di Vukovar", e ha anche chiesto che sia inscritta sul piedistallo della Croce. Per il Santo Padre, Giovanni Paolo II come segno della nostra gratitudine per tutto quello che ha compiuto. Il popolo croato.
On the initiative of Ratko Vince, director of The World Center – The Miracle of the Croatian Naive Art, fifteen Croatian Naive artists agreed to create fifteen paintings on glass, representing the fifteen Stations of the Way of the Cross and the calvary of the Croatian people during the Homeland War, in order to gift their paintings, and this representation of the Way of the Cross, in the form of a wooden cross, 3 metres in height, to the Holy Father, Pope John Paul II on the occasion of his second pastoral visit to Croatia.
On a Monday in 1998, the President of the Republic of Croatian, President Dr Franjo Tuđman, invited a group of well-known cultural workers to the Presidential Offices, in order to decide what to gift the Pope on his visit to Zagreb. Apart from the President, sitting at the table were Božo Biškupić, the eminent sculptor Kruno Bošnjak, the reputable painter, Prof. Josip Biffel, Dr Jure Radić, President of the Welcoming Committee for the Pope, Ivan Lacković-Croata and Ratko Vince. It was the President’s decision that it be called the „Vukovar Cross”, and he also asked that the following be inscribed on the pedestal of the Cross – To the Holy Father, John Paul II as a token of our gratitude for all that he has accomplished. The Croatian people.
