Venerable Servant of God Petar Barbarić was born on May 19, 1874 in Šiljevište, Klobuk parish, in Herzegovina to mother Kate née Tolj and father Ante. After finishing elementary school in Veljaci, he did not continue his education because his parents sent him to work in a store. However, in 1889, the rector of the seminary in Travnik sent a letter to teachers throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina, asking them to recommend young men who would like to become priests. Peter's teacher remembered the gifted boy, the parents agreed and Peter became a seminarian. He was an exemplary student and a great worshiper of the Heart of Jesus. He wanted to join the Society of Jesus, but near the end of his schooling, he fell sick to death from tuberculosis. He surrendered himself completely to God's will, patiently enduring his illness. Two days before his death, with special permission, he took religious vows. He died on April 15, 1897.
He was buried at the Bojne cemetery, and then his remains were transferred to the seminary church in Travnik in 1935. However, after 1944, his body was stolen and buried in the mud, and then walled up in the basement under the seminary building. After the post-war reconstruction of the church and the seminary building in Travnik, his body was found and laid in the crypt of the Travnik church on July 23, 1998. Pope Francis approved the decree on the recognition of the heroic virtues of the servant of God Peter Barbarić on March 18, 2015.
(Željka Šaravanja)
