On Sunday, March 14, 2021, at 11 a.m., a ceremony was held in the Miha Potočnik Park in Žale Cemetery in Ljubljana in memory of those who died during the covid-19 epidemic. On behalf of the Catholic Church in Slovenia, the Archbishop of Ljubljana, Metropolitan and President of the Slovenian Bishops' Conference (SBC), Msgr Stanislav Zore, attended the commemoration. He addressed the audience and blessed the weeping willow, planted as a symbol of mourning and compassion for the deceased's relatives during the covid-19 epidemic, a year after the first death in Slovenia.

At the ceremony, the audience first listened to the Slovenian anthem performed by the brass band of the Police Orchestra. The President of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Borut Pahor, addressed the audience. The address of the President of SBC, Archbishop Zore, was followed by a prayer by MA Geza Fila, a priest of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg religion in the Republic of Slovenia, and a minute of silence in memory of those who have died during the covid-19 epidemic. During this time, the representative of the Islamic Community in the Republic of Slovenia, MA Nevzet Porić silently prayer with his hands raised.

Archbishop Zore blesses the weeping willow planted as a symbol of mourning and compassion for the relatives of those who have died during the covid-19 epidemic on the anniversary of the first covid death in Slovenia. The inscription on the commemorative plaque next to the tree reads:

Willow

(Salix x sepulcralis Simk)

Planted as a symbol of mourning and compassion for the relatives of those who died during the covid-19 epidemic, on the anniversary of the first death in Slovenia.

The Republic of Slovenia

March 14, 2021

In the first year of the COVID-19 epidemic, 4,203 people died in Slovenia.