From April 14 to 16, 2015, the Jubilee Fiftieth Plenary Session of the Croatian Conference of Bishops was held in Zagreb and chaired by Msgr. Želimir Puljić, Archbishop of Zadar. In addition to the members of the CCB, the participants included the Apostolic Nuncio in the Republic of Croatia, Alessandro D’Errico; the delegate from the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Military Ordinary Tomo Vukšić; the delegate from the Bishops’ Conference of Slovenia, Auxiliary Bishop Franc Šuštar of Ljubljana, the delegate from the Bishops’ Conference of Italy, Bishop Giampaolo Crepaldi of Trieste; and the delegate from the Bishops’ Conference of Poland, Msgr. Marian B. Kruszylowicz. Bishop Đuro Gašparović of Srijem and Bishop Ivan Penzeš of Subotica attended as guests.
After opening the session, the President of the CCB, Archbishop Puljić, greeted all present, particularly welcoming the newly ordained Bishop of Krk, Msgr. Ivica Petanjak. Since the session was held shortly before the Second Encounter of Croatian Catholic Families and between two synods on the family, Archbishop Puljić said that they would reflect primarily on the topic of the family and thereby attest that the family is truly the center of Church attention. He then recalled several highlights from the apostolic exhortation On the Role of the Christian Family in the Modern World (Familiaris consortio) by St. John Paul II, hailed as Pope to the Family, which emphasized that the Church wants to help families in various ways. The Church does not only want its voice as a teacher to be heard but also wants to help all who live the values of marriage and family and those who seek the truth about marriage and family. The Church particularly wants to provide help and support to those who are unjustly impeded from living their family lives freely (FC 1). The President of the CCB expressed satisfaction that the topic of family was the focus of several important meetings at the level of the Church among the Croats, such as Theological-Pastoral Week, Pastoral Colloquium for Priests and numerous catechetical meetings.
During the working part of the session, the bishops reflected on the topic of the family from various aspects. Based upon an analysis of Catholic religious education in elementary and middle schools, it was noted that there are topics directly or indirectly connected with the topics of marriage and family. However, certain difficulties were identified in transmitting family values to generations of children who come from diverse family backgrounds. Therefore, the role of religion teachers and their wisdom in dealing with family topics were emphasized. However, thorough knowledge of the curriculum content and the students whom they address is required. The bishops also said that better material should be available about family values and emphasized the importance of increasing the number of thematic units devoted to marriage and the family in the upper grades of elementary school and all grades of middle school.
The bishops devoted particular attention to catechetical and pastoral marriage preparation, which includes three stages: distant, close and immediate. There is also a need to evaluate further preparation, which should already begin during childhood in the family home. Since modern families are increasingly less established in a truly Christian mentality, they are becoming less capable of providing a suitable environment for preparation for family life, and there is a need to create suitable pastoral and catechetical programs for preparing young people for marriage. Close preparation is conducted through courses in preparation for marriage, which are held throughout our dioceses and attended by the majority of engaged couples. Nevertheless, the bishops noted some shortcomings in these courses that should be overcome. Among other things, there is a deficiency or absence of discussion about the virtues of premarital and marital life, as well as insufficient knowledge about the Church moral doctrine among Catholic married persons regarding their attitude toward human life from natural conception to natural death. As for immediate preparation, there is a need for greater engagement concerning the spiritual preparation of engaged couples. Taking into account the many challenges faced by modern married couples, the bishops believe that particular attention should be afforded in future pastoral ministry to preparation for complete commitment and faithfulness as the basic components of Christian marriage
At the session, there was discussion about the increasingly widespread danger from gender ideology, which calls the original meaning of Christian marriage and family into question. Under its influence, there has been an increasingly apparent relativization in society of everything connected with marriage and the family, as well as the spreading of opinions that clash with the natural and Church teachings about these realities. Therefore, the bishops believe that it is important for Christians to respond to all of this by promoting the genuine values of life, marriage and family in a positive and stimulating way. They should always present and defend authentic Church positions in a thoughtful, argued and respectful manner, and by their lives and convictions “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope” (1 Pet 3:15) with tireless faith and consistency.

The bishops also discussed the worrisome demographic indicators that forebode a kind of demographic catastrophe, with unforeseeable consequences. In order to emphasize the importance of solving this problem, the bishops issued an appeal to the Croatian public in which they point out that the reasons for such a situation are many and complex. Among them, they particularly emphasized continuous emigration, the abandonment of rural areas and settlement in urban areas, the concentration of the population in only a few large cities, the slow development of small and medium-sized cities, and emigration for so-called temporary work in foreign countries. There are also high unemployment, job insecurity, the lack of a systematic housing policy for young families and negative economic trends that increasingly worsen their position.
A particular problem discussed by the bishops concerned tendencies in the economy that are unfavorable for women, mothers with small children and pregnant women, as reflected in several ways: requiring women not to plan on having children as a prerequisite for being hired, undesirable work schedules, particularly work on Sundays, as well as the lack of a service infrastructure for families with small children. Cautioning that Croatia will have about a million fewer inhabitants by the middle of this century if such trends continue, the bishops determined that there is a need for discussion among all the relevant factors for the purpose of finding a common solution regarding our demographic future. They called for the urgent adoption and systematic implementation of long-term pro-birth family and population policies.
The bishops also discussed the mandates of individual bodies of the CCB. Regarding the approaching twentieth anniversary of military campaign known as Operation Storm, the bishops decided to participate in the Eucharistic celebration of Homeland Thanksgiving Day, August 5, 2015, in Knin.
After the submission of reports by individual bodies of the CCB, the bishops agreed to have their annual meeting with the men superiors of religious communities in the Republic of Croatia on June 9, 2015, and to hold the Regular Plenary Session of the CCB from November 10 to 12, 2015.

Secretariat of the Croatian Conference of Bishops