Zagreb, (IKA) – On the last day of the autumn session of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, October 23, the main highlights from the session were presented at a press conference held at the CCB headquarters in Zagreb. Bishop Valter Župan of Krk commented on the recently completed Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization. The participants in the session of the CCB were informed about the work of the synod by the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, who had participated in the synod as the representative of the Croatian bishops. Bishop Župan particularly noted that Cardinal Bozanić, in speaking about the character of the synod, emphasized its great openness because Pope Francis encouraged the maximum freedom among the participants and added that everything would be accessible via the media. “It is normal among so many people that when they present their opinions there will be confrontation,” said Bishop Župan. He also mentioned that Cardinal Bozanić was “somewhat dissatisfied” with the coverage by the Croatian media of the synod’s work. Regarding the aftermath of the session, Bishop Župan said that the bishops should study the Relatio Synodi, so that they will be able to adopt concrete conclusions at the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod in October 2015.
The President of the Council of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for Life and the Family, Bishop Župan, presented the Second National Croatian Catholic Family Encounter, which will be held on April 19 of next year in Trsat. The bishop recalled that the first encounter was held in 2011 during the visit by Pope Benedict XVI, followed by a colloquium on the family and this year’s encounters at the diocesan level. In this regard, he noted that the votive candle that was lit at the Zagreb Hippodrome for the Pope’s visit in 2011 and kept in the national Marian shrine in Marija Bistrica for the Day of Life, February 1, will be transferred to the Rijeka Cathedral. During a vigil to be held on April 18, it will be brought to Trsat. On the day of the encounter, the program will begin with testimonies by families, which Bishop Župan said have been very useful to previous groups of families “because they truly present reality with all the problems and suffering that families nevertheless manage to overcome, preserving their unity.” The central event of the encounter will be the celebration of the Eucharist at 12 noon, which will be televized. Presidents of the episcopal councils for the family of neighboring countries will also be invited to the encounter.
The President of Caritas Croatia, Bishop Josip Mrzljak of Varaždin, said that an issue related to Caritas is always on the agenda of a session because Caritas is important to the activity of the Church. He reported on a campaign to aid flood victims, for which the CCB allocated 12 million HRK that were distributed to the most severely afflicted in the Slavonian region but also sent to the neighboring countries of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as Serbia. In addition, as of September 30, over 8 million HRK were deposited in the Caritas account, which will be distributed for reconstruction projects. The support provided by the Church is actually much greater because funds were also donated by the branches of Caritas in the individual dioceses, religious institutions, parishes etc.
Furthermore, the campaign “Ready for Good” collected 350,000 HRK, which were distributed among the dioceses so that one thousand children each received 350 HRK. In the campaign “Week of Solidarity and Unity with the Church and People in Bosnia and Herzegovina,” conducted by Caritas in the spring, approximately 2,140,000 HRK were collected. Briefly presenting upcoming activities, Bishop Mrzljak said that the regular campaign “For a Thousand Joys” is being prepared, as well as Caritas Sunday, December 14. He also spoke about veterans’ protests and difficulties, emphasizing that the Croatian bishops sympathize with the veterans and pray for their intentions. The bishops have also demonstrated their closeness to the veterans during these moments. Bishop Mile Bogović visited the protesting veterans and led prayer on the occasion of the death of the Croatian veteran Nevenka Topalušić.
The President of the Council of the CCB for Catechesis, Archbishop Đuro Hranić of Đakovo-Osijek, presented a message from the bishops of the Croatian Conference of Bishops addressed to young people, “Male and Female He Created Them!” The letter has eight items. The first item explains the purpose of the letter. The second and third provide a critical analysis of gender theory, its teachings and endeavors. Then the bishops present the biblical-Christian view of the person, body and sexuality, said Archbishop Hranić, who pointed out that this a doctrinal message and not a guideline for pastoral practice. The message deals with gender theory as such. When the Church proclaims the gospel and teaches, while cautioning against fringe ideological and value currents contrary to the gospel, it never judges people or proponents of ideas and ideologies. Although the Church does not accept ideas and critically rejects ideologies, it never rejects people but instead brings them the light of the gospel, respecting their consciences, even an insurmountably false conscience as the norm of their activity. The message specifically says “the best response to the challenge of new ideology is authentically proclaiming and living according to the gospel,” which was the motive for the bishops to issue this message,” said Archbishop Hranić. In this context, he warned how “based on this message, it is not possible or permissible to read the attitude of the Church toward persons with homosexual inclinations. This would be a very one-sided approach because it simply is not here, and it is also not possible to read or judge the pastoral approach to persons with such inclinations. In the message, it is necessary to see the attempts by the bishops to strengthen the Christian’s awareness of his humanity, which came from the hand of God, to protect young believers with Christian proclamation from the mentality and spirit of gender ideology, and to exhort them to Christian proclamation, living according to the values of love, marital fidelity and family that are responses to the deep longing of the human heart.”
On this occasion, Archbishop Hranić also presented a Croatian translation of the brochure A Student’s Guide to Bioethics (Vodič kroz bioetiku za mlade), issued by the Office of the CCB and published by Glas Koncila. More than two million copies of this brochure were distributed on World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro.