Zagreb, (IKA) – Within the framework of the Ninth Inter-Religious Meeting of High Representatives of Religious Communities in Croatia, held on November 12 in the premises of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops in Zagreb, a symposium was organized on the Preventive and Curative Aspects of the Preservation of Marriage and Families in Croatia—The Experiences of Religious Communities. The welfare of marriage and the family is an integral part of the doctrines and daily life of religious communities. Therefore, those assembled at the Ninth Inter-Religious Meeting of High Representatives of Religious Communities in Croatia, on the basis of presentations, discussions and the conclusions of symposia, adopted a statement, which at the beginning recalls their Joint Statement on the Family of 2011, including the following: “Based on the experience that the family in our time is jeopardized in numerous segments of its existence and convinced of its indispensible significance for society and the human race in general, by this Joint Statement on the Family, as high representatives of the three monotheistic religions in Croatia—Judaism, Christianity and Islam—we urge the general public and social support for the preservation and healing of the family in Croatia, and for imbuing upbringing in the family with true values and virtues for the family as a community, where people do not live only for themselves but for others, because we believe that only such a family can become a guarantor of the quality of interpersonal relations and a better future for society and humankind.”
In this manner, after presenting experiences and examples of good practices in work with engaged couples, spouses and families, the high representatives particularly emphasize the importance of preventive activity prior to marriage, in the sense of the best possible preparation of young people for married and family life, as well as after marriage with the goal of fostering marriage and the family, i.e., the preservation of unity, integrity and harmony, because such a preventive approach makes it easier for families to fulfill their social roles for the benefit of the entire society.
On the basis of the experiences presented, the high representatives of religious communities perceive a growing and increasingly comprehensive engagement by the religious communities in the preservation of marriage and the family in Croatia, also caused by the growing and increasingly numerous problems and challenges which today’s person encounters in marriage and family life. The need for such involvement is also evident in studies that show that married persons who cultivate their religious dimension and regularly practice their religion have a lower divorce rate, which may also imply higher quality marriage.
Thereby, the negative consequences of divorce are prevented, which do not relate only to children but also to the men and women who divorce and ultimately the whole society. These consequences can include the deterioration of physical and mental health, a shortened lifespan (sometimes suicide), poor school performance, antisocial behavior and addiction, poverty and the economic losses arising from all the aforementioned. Therefore, the representatives of the religious communities believe that the protection of marriage and the family should be a social priority, about which it is necessary to reach a clear consensus among all social factors.
They express concern that a clear consensus does not exist on many levels to a sufficient extent, as if it were not recognized that healthy and harmonious families are treasures and the firmest foundations of society, and that healthy and harmonious marriages are the basic prerequisites for healthy and harmonious families as the optimal environments for the harmonious growth and development of future generations. At a time when the economic crisis, which is not slowing down in Croatia, is having an increasingly detrimental effect on the stability and sustainability of marriages and families, the high representatives believe that children who have received a good and suitable upbringing are among the most important guarantors of the sustainable development of society and, thus, its basic “resource.” Without them, the society has no hope or future.
In order to guarantee children an optimal and safe environment, the high representatives feel that it is important for marriage to be adequately protected and observe that, unfortunately, marriage between a woman and man, as stipulated in Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, has not thus far been a part of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and in this regard has not enjoyed the highest form of protection by the society and state. As high representatives of the religious communities, they urge all the citizens of the Republic of Croatia to be governed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which in Article 16, Paragraph 1, states the following: “Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution,” and in Article 16, Paragraph 3: “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” Article 12 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms stipulates the following: “Men and women of marriageable age have the right to marry and to found a family, according to the national laws governing the exercise of this right.” Article 5 of the Family Act of the Republic of Croatia states: “Marriage is a legally regulated community of a man and woman.” In addition, the high representatives urge the faithful to be governed by the religious tenets of their religious communities and by the Joint Statement on the Family of 2011 by the high representatives, in which they expressed their common views on marriage and the family.
The representatives of the religious communities welcome the decision of the Croatian Parliament to call for a referendum in the Republic of Croatia, which nearly 750,000 voters sought and made possible, and urge all the members of their communities—Catholics, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Jews, Muslims and others—to vote in the referendum on Sunday, December 1, and use their votes to ensure the constitutional protection of marriage, because marriage as the union of a man and woman is the best place for receiving and raising children and founding families, which are the basic units of every society.
They also express the belief that this is a referendum that will serve as a significant precedent for Croatia and emphasize that it is important for the faithful, which constitute the great majority of the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, to have the opportunity to make an objective, informed and free decision about the topic of the referendum.
The representatives of religious communities support the referendum for marriage because they thereby want to protect the weakest in society, which are the children, since children need a family as the best natural environment for growth, maturation and personality development.
They support all the efforts by the state that are in favor of the family and its protection. With regard to the New Family Act, they advocate that prior to its adoption, marriage and the family should be protected as the first and fundamental principle.
They appeal to all the bodies and all the faithful in their religious communities to continue, within the framework of their abilities, to provide even more comprehensive support, services and contents that contribute to the stabilization of marriage and families, both families of believers and all others. They hope that the Croatian public will recognize these attempts as positive and pray that they will be adequately evaluated by the institutions of the local, county and state authorities. According to the statement, the common goal of all the components of our society is a high quality family and population strategy, by which a friendly environment for families would be created and the next steps to protect and preserve them would be planned systematically.
The representatives of religious communities urge the faithful of their communities to contribute even more intensively through their personal activities and efforts to the protection and preservation of marriage and the family, especially by strengthening families through concrete assistance and encouraging them to assume their social role and, thereby, influence their future.
They emphasize that they will attempt to make the protection of marriage and the family in their religious communities as effective and concrete as possible, which may include the exchange of experiences in this area as well as coordination where realistically possible.
The participants at the meeting included the President of the Council of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops for Ecumenism and Dialogue, Bishop Vlado Košić of Sisak; the Secretary of that Council, Prof. Dr. Jure Zečević; the President of the Council of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops for Life and the Family, Bishop Valter Župan of Krk; the Head of the Office of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops for Life and the Family, Petar-Krešimir Hodžić, M.D.; on behalf of the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan Bishop Jovan Pavlović of Zagreb-Ljubljana, Archpriest Stavrofor Slobodan Lalić; Archpriest Kirko Velinski of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, Ohrid Archdiocese; the Secretary of the Synod of the Christian Reformed (Calvinist) Church in the Republic of Croatia, Branimir Bučanović; the Secretary General of the Union of Baptist Churches in Croatia, Željko Mraz; the Pastor of the Baptist Church in Zagreb, Zdenko Horvat; the Director of Family Life for the Focus Association and the Elders of the Baptist Church of Zagreb-Malešnica, Presbyter Davor Kukec; the Presbyter of the General Presbytery of the Evangelical Pentecostal Church in the Republic of Croatia and President of the Theological Commission of that Church, Danijel Berković; the Spokeswoman of the Bet Israel Jewish Community of Croatia, Jasminka Domaš; and on behalf of the President of the Islamic Community in the Republic of Croatia, Mufti Aziz Hasanović, a member of the Mesihat, Mevludi Arslani.