Dear Faithful!

From April 1 to 28 of this year, a population census of households and dwellings will be conducted in the Republic of Croatia. This is a comprehensive collection of data at the state level that occurs in our country, as in many others, every ten years. In addition to the fact that participating in this census is a civic duty, it is also important for the life of the Church and the faithful in society. Therefore, we urge you to approach this obligation with deliberation and responsibility. As your bishops, we direct your attention to the fact that among the questions asked in the prepared questionnaire are those regarding religious affiliation and ethnicity. Some may consider a believer’s declaration of his religion to be merely a statistical fact but we know well that it is also an important expression of a person’s testimony to his faith. For someone who has been baptized in the Catholic Church and is affiliated with it, declaring oneself to be a Catholic means to express the truth freely and not deny one’s identity.

Knowing that a believer is a believer in all of life’s circumstances and misfortunes, regardless of the difficulties encountered, it is good to recall that a declaration of religion and membership in the Church have consequences upon all components of life. Therefore, it is not surprising that recently in various ways there have been attempts to influence members of the Catholic Church not to declare that they are Catholics, blur the image and create a different picture of the Croatian social fabric than what it actually is, in terms of civilization and culture.

The information obtained form the population census will serve as the basis for making various political, economic and other decisions that are important for the coming period, reflecting not only on the life of this generation but also on the lives of the children and young people we care about.

We hereby urge all of you, Catholic faithful, to promote our distinctiveness and values, our identity, through which we contribute to promoting that which is good in our Croatian homeland, by declaring your Catholic faith and affiliation to your nation,
During the population census, therefore, do not forget to declare that you are Catholics, Croats or members of some other ethnicity, because only through acquaintance with and emphasis on our own identity can we build more sincere and more humane relationships.
May God and His blessing be with you during the holy days of Lent and Easter.

Your Bishops
In Zagreb, March 31, 2011