Interview with Fr. Zlatko Sudac
INTRO
Fr. Zlatko Sudac (pronounced "Sue-dots") was born
on January 24, 1971. He is from the town of Vrbnik, on Krk island,
in Croatia. He began studying for the priesthood in 1993, after
completing his mandatory military service in the Yugoslav army. He
was ordained a priest on June 29, 1998 and is a diocesan priest for the
diocese of Krk, Croatia. Both of his parents are still
alive. He has one sister, who is married and has three
children.
Fr. Sudac received the cross on his forehead in May 1999,
on the Friday after the beatification of Padre Pio. After he
received the cross, he was sent to the Gemelli Clinic in Rome to be
investigated. The exhaustive investigation concluded that Fr.
Sudac's cross was not of human origin, i.e. that it was formed in a way
that medical science could not explain. Fr. Sudac received the
stigmata on his wrists, feet and side on October 4, 2000, the feast day
of St. Francis of Assisi, who was the first person in the history of the
Church to receive the stigmata.
Fr. Sudac currently works at the Bethany Retreat Center,
which is located in the tiny village called Cunski (pronounced
"Choon-skee"), on the island of Mali Losinj (pronounced "Molly
Lawsheen"). This island is located in the northern Adriatic, just
south of the port city of Rijeka, Croatia. This island was once
part of the island Cres. In Roman times the two islands were
separated at the isthmus city of Osor when a canal was dug. North
and east of Losinj and Cres is the island of Krk, which gives its name
to the local diocese. Mali Losinj has a population of about
6500. It dates back to at least the 12th century when about a
dozen Croatian families went there from Hungary, taking refuge from the
attacking Mongols. Today, Losinj is a very popular tourist site
due to its beautiful island scenery, the pristine Adriatic sea, and its
beautiful beaches.
Fr. Sudac's primary messages are very simple ones: that
love has to be the foundation of everything that we do, and if we live
in love, then we live in God; that we must be open to the gifts of the
Holy Spirit and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we can
live the fullness of what God wants to give us; that we must die to
ourselves completely so that God can fill us with Himself; that we must
be completely normal people, who have our feet firmly planted on the
ground, but ever aware that while we live in this world, we are not of
it. This is just some of what Fr. Sudac's primary messages
are. Fr. Sudac twice visited St. Jerome Parish (October 1999;
January and February, 2001) What follows is his message in his own
words.
Q: Why did you decide to become a priest?
For many years I thought about the way in which to
actualize myself to the fullest as a person. I finished high school for
mechanical engineering. Then I started to study philosophy and
psychology. I decided to switch to the theological seminary to become a
candidate for the priesthood for my diocese. To speak about my life's
call means to dive a little deeper into my being, into my heart. Every
person asks himself which is the way to most fully actualize himself. In
the same way I thought about how I could surrender myself completely.
Spirituality always excited me. I always read spiritual books. Then I
simply decided and it was the final step towards trust in God. I saw
that work with people, with the sick, with the marginalized makes me
happy, and that if I live in that way, I would never be alone. The one
who lives for people receives a great deal from people. These are the
things of value which are eternal. One of the main reasons for our
existence on earth is to be people who love and who live for other
people. Today, this is very necessary. I am young. In front of me is
life and my future, and I pray to God for the grace to have a heart for
every human being, especially for those who are far away - far away from
other people, from God, and from themselves.
Q: Did you grow up with Catholic parents? Were they
allowed to practice their faith and did the communist idea of no God
affect you? How did you come to know God under communism?
My family is a traditional Catholic family. And precisely
that tradition is for many people a barrier to the experience of living.
I would come to church comforting myself that I knew and loved God. Then
I understood that that was not love but a habit. Then I asked myself if
I would want to be a person who was loved (by others) out of habit. How
does God feel when we love Him out of habit? Then I understood that love
for God is something that is alive and original, something so deeply
rooted in the depths of our being, something which changes our life, and
which gives us the power to bear witness to other people. To love God in
the present moment. To be alive now, not tomorrow or in the past. To
live every step with God. It means to be God's messenger. That is
something which has always awakened within me a certain adventure for
God. God is the Father of all people who wish to proclaim Jesus Christ.
One needs to have a great depth of spirit to live for everyone, because
God died for everyone.
Q: How old were you when you went to the priesthood?
22 years old.
Q: How old were he when you were ordained?
27 years old. That was a year ago on June 29, 1998, on
the feast of St. Peter and Paul .
Q: Are you part of the Charismatic Movement?
At the Second Vatican Council, our Church defined the
Church as being institutional and charismatic. The problem is that many
charismatics live outside the institutional church. We live in a time
when our union with our bishops and the pope will be the only guarantee
of true and correct actions of both priests and the laity. If God gave
me a specific mission, then I don't have to be concerned about that
mission. If God desires it, then He will do it through the Church and
the Church’s leaders - He will make it possible that I live my charism
for the good of the Church and all peoples. I am just one piece in the
mosaic. And it would be better for me not to have been born if I were to
draw attention to myself and not to Jesus Christ. Truly this is the only
true way to serve God in the next millenium.
Q: You were in the seminary for 4 or 5 years?
Six years
Q: How many brothers and sisters do you have?
I have one sister. She is married and has 2
children.
The Stigmata
Q: What kind of prayer meeting were you leading when
God gave you the Stigmata?
That is how the newspapers wrote it. But in fact it
wasn't a prayer meeting. It was a friendly get-together in one family's
home. When I speak about all of those events which took place then, I
speak with a tremendous fear of the Lord because I myself experienced
how it all surpasses my very self. Many people have asked me what I
think of all of this, and I tell them that they want to know something
which I myself do not know. Jesus Christ said that by their fruits you
will recognize them. If people come to my Masses and seminars and
experience God there and change their lives, if many sick people are
healed, if those in conflict with one another reconcile, if people throw
out all of their filth before God and seek peace with God, if those in
sorrow find hope returning, then that is the fruit to which we have to
turn our attention, and not myself (i.e. do not turn your attention to
me). I constantly announce at the seminars that if you have come there
because of me, then you have made a mistake, but if you came because of
Jesus Christ then stay. We must look at the giver, not the gift. I
experience myself as sandals which God puts on and which he will tread
upon so that through them (the sandals) He may come to those people whom
He intends to reach. May God give me the strength so that with my life I
may faithfully serve Him, to His honor.
Q: Do you have pain in your forehead?
It doesn't hurt me, except when I am in prayer, and then
I feel it pulsing. On first Fridays and at certain times, it's known to
bleed and leak as though it is crying.
Q: Are you an Order priest?
No, I belong to the diocese of Krk, in
Croatia.
The Blessed Mother
Q: Are you close to the Blessed Mother?
Very much. She is my beloved mother. All evil forces fall
before her. One can pray to her only with a pure heart, and I will be
grateful for her protection until the end of my life. Personally I have
consecrated myself to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The mother is truly
the gentler side of our spirituality. In this technical and rough
society, we are missing the mother of gentleness.
Q: Did you dedicate yourself to Mary as a child?
A year ago.
Q: Were you close to Mary as a little boy?
There is an interesting story about my mother. When she
was a young girl, she wanted to be a nun with the Missionaries of
Charity. But at that time, it was required that the family give a
certain amount of money so that the girl could join the convent. My
grandmother, that is, the mother of my mother, was very poor, and she
was not able to do it. That is when my mother vowed to Mary, our
heavenly Mother, that if she was not able to do it (i.e. become a nun),
if God gave her a son, she would consecrate him to God. My mother
acknowledged this to me only at the point when I told her that I wanted
to be a priest. I never knew anything about this vow of hers. At that
time, through tears, she told me about this vow she made. Through this I
can see that the intercession of the Mother of God protected
me.
Q: Is your father alive and where do they live?
Yes, they live on the island, Krk, the same place from
which the archbishop of Zagreb comes. My mother went to school with the
archbishop of Zagreb. In my diocese there are about 70 priests. It is
one of the smallest dioceses in all of Croatia.
Q: Have you been to Medjugorje?
Three times. Those were unforgettable experiences. It is
a holy place of prayer, silence and conversion of
heart.
Q: Were you a priest when you first went to
Medjugorje?
I was very young, a young boy the first time.
Q: Have you been there since you became a priest?
Yes.
Q: What is the most important thing you found in
Medjugorje?
Honesty. To be a lover of truth. Today truth provokes. It
seeks the whole person. And Mary cannot but to ask for my entire self.
Giving myself to Mary and to God, I do not lose myself, but I find
myself. That is what I carry from Medjugorje. The message I received -
especially have trust in God.
2,000 people attended Fr. Sudac's Retreat in Tinley
Park, ILL, Feb. 2001
Gifts From God
Q: Have Jesus or Mary ever spoken to you?
No, I have never had a vision or an apparition, but I
have a conversation of the heart. It is a gift of being able to diagnose
or read people's hearts. That gift is manifested with me when I am in
spiritual conversations or hearing confessions. It is always given as a
help to the person so that he can express himself and fall in love with
God.
Q: Did that gift of reading souls come after the
stigmata?
Before the phenomenon of stigmatization, I had gifts like
the gift of tongues, the gift of healing, the gift of counsel, and
slowly the gift of knowledge came also. After the stigmatization, I
received many other gifts. Some of these gifts overwhelmed me very much.
And so I needed some time to get accustomed to what was happening. By
this I refer specifically to the gifts of levitation, bilocation,
illumination, and the knowledge of upcoming events - the knowledge about
the near future, especially about future dangers.
Q: Are you allowed to speak of those?
I would like to wait until a certain time passes. I am in
cooperation with some experts - the top experts in the world. I would
like the whole thing, from their side to be well observed. And until the
official Church makes an announcement regarding these certain
phenomenon, in my heart I am not sure whether it is good to speak about
these things. I want to draw attention to Jesus Christ, and I am afraid
that with these things, I may be drawing attention to myself. I am a
sinful man. Since the stigmatization, I have a tremendous need for the
Sacrament of Confession. For me it is the same as for everyone else to
walk this earth, to be little and in that way I will belong to
God.
Q: You spoke of the gift of languages, is it a gift
of tongues or is it a gift of multiple languages?
No, the gift of tongues have two or three groupings. One
is that a person has never studied a known language but is able to speak
that language. The second is that a person can speak old forgotten
Hebrew, Aramaic or other old Semitic languages. And the third gift is
the so-called babbling - when a person through the grace of God can
speak the so-called angelic language. This gift is mentioned in Holy
Scripture. We have to be very careful with this gift because evil
spirits can also use this gift of tongues. Once there was a séance where
people were praying in tongues, and these gifts of tongues were
tape-recorded. A person who had the gift of understanding tongues,
understood that those were all cursing, blasphemies and profane language
against God. At Pentecost when the apostles spoke in various tongues,
then one spoke and everyone understood. With us at our prayer meetings,
it so often happens that everyone speaks (in tongues) and no one
understands. My experience is this - the one who has the gift of tongues
and feels purity in their heart and the need to praise God with this
(gift), he should begin to pray out loud. But if in that moment, a
person with the gift of understanding tongues does not come forward,
then that gift, in that moment is not given for the building up of the
community, but for the individual building up of that person. Then I
recommend that that person pray quietly to himself. Every gift which we
have is not given for the individual person but for others, for the
community. I am at the service of the will of God.
Q: Can you tell us about your bilocation?
It's a very interesting gift, which is manifested only at
the point when other people bear witness to it. The person (with this
gift) up until the last moment is not certain what is happening with
him. You have the feeling that you are at one place, but your heart and
imagination wants to be somewhere else. This happens when the person is
forbidden from being with God, with prayer, with the Blessed Sacrament.
After a similar prohibition which I experienced, the bilocation
manifested itself.
Q: They would not let you close to God so when you
bilocated you went close to God?
I was with God at one place and the other, but the other
place I experienced more in my heart and imagination than in my body.
It's interesting that I knew everything that was happening there. I
would have ascribed this all to my imagination had some people not come
forward and confirmed it all - six people who saw me physically there.
With one of these people I even shook hands.
Q: This was at home in your diocese?
At the same time I was with some young people praying and
meditating. (Fr. Jozo's additional commentary) "and they knew he was
there - he was praying with them. At the second place it was a church
and some people saw him in front of the church and they shook his hand
so they knew he was there."
Q: Father Sudac, you said at the beginning of the
interview that this has given you (tremendous) fear of the Lord.
I still feel it very much. God is something which
surpasses any and all thoughts about Him. He surpasses our feelings, and
even the state of our souls. It is impossible to speak about Him. The
only way to communicate with God is to love God. We have to sink into
God so that I no longer exist but God does. When I do this I don't lose
myself, but find myself in God. This can be understood only by those
people who love God with all their heart, all their soul, and all their
strength. If anyone sins, the only cause for all sins is the lack of
love towards God and the lack of love for mankind and ourselves, that is
the cause of all evils. If this wounded humanity would discover the
formula of love, unconditional love, this life would be heaven on
earth.
During the Mass at St. Jerome's in Chicago
TOP
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To show them how the Lord
works.
So let us thank God for the graces
we have received.
As we pray the Rosary together or
one
Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory
be.
love and God
bless,
Ian
