In the episcopal office entrusted to us, in civil responsibility and love of the Croatian homeland, in concern for the Catholic faithful and in attempts to achieve good for all the people who live in Croatia, we are concerned about certain phenomena in our society that characterize the political, economic and cultural atmosphere. This is a time that God has given us and called us, specifically, to live in, recognizing the signs of the times in the light of the gospel. Aware that this message could be perceived as an overly general appeal and incentive, we are issuing it precisely for this reason because fundamental questions are at issue. Although most often there are attempts in the society to ignore or discredit our statements, relegating them to some political option, we are not speaking out due to political interests or desires that arise from the commitments of political parties. We are addressing the public because we are not indifferent to the events and circumstances in which we live.
We can neither be satisfied nor silent before the creation of an atmosphere of uncertainty, disorientation, distrust, disunity, the spread of fear, the loss of criteria and the failure to recognize values.

2. Supporting the efforts of the relevant institutions to eliminate lawlessness and injustice from our society and to strengthen the rule of law and promote human dignity, we pray for illumination by the Spirit of God, courage and perseverance for those responsible for such efforts. In addition to such endeavors, at the same time there are also those who intentionally attempt at all levels to reinforce the impression of instability and hopelessness in the Croatian society. This by no means is merely the fruit of legitimate democratic competition but primarily emphasis imposed upon the Croatian public by certain interests. Great responsibility for this is borne by the mass media, owing to their frequent decisions to ignore events and contents that help further the building of fundamental social values. Such selectivity is detrimental to a healthy national spirit. Despite the many justified desires to direct the entire realm of the media toward the good, we know that the logic of profits prevents this. We urge Catholics in all the media not to accept behavior that is unacceptable to Christianity. Nonetheless, we are all responsible for the media image, especially for the public media that have the responsibility to work for the good of the Croatian society. Ultimately, these are the media that also live from the financial support of the Croatian citizens. Every day we are confronted by the dissatisfaction of people who do not recognize the genuine interests of the Croatian person and nation in the activity of the media.

3. Considering current difficulties, we must not ignore those values woven into the good accomplished during the past twenty years of Croatian independence, not forgetting that various aspects of the current crisis in society have arisen from roots extending from the former totalitarian communist system.
Our bond to remembrance, not merely in the form of commemorating important events but also from the spirit that gave them their inner purpose and bore historical significance, has made it possible for us today to rely on the vital foundations of the good and more easily oppose everything that disparages the sincerity of sacrifices, commitment and selflessness. What does the Croatian album, written during the past two decades, tell us? Does it really contain only the visible traces of misconduct and acts unworthy of the venerable Croatian name? Or have we allowed the radiance of the truth to become so tarnished that we cannot manage to see it through the thick layer of today’s problems? It is indeed possible to continue to add reasons for dissatisfaction, since they are easy to find or impose, but we are more called upon to rediscover the strength that has returned hope and enthusiasm for the good.

4. When it was the hardest, when many predicted the collapse of Croatian freedom and desired our efforts to fail, fellowship, harmony and unity spoke out, imbued with the values of the gospel that opened Croatian homes and hearts to all who were in various types of danger, whether friends or enemies. Such a bond of solidarity and good must not disappear as the driving force of modern Croatia. Instead of emphasizing such paradigms, for a number of years in the presentation of Croatia, especially on the cultural and artistic levels (literature, film and theater), gloomy tones, nausea and the suffocation of the beauty of the humanity upon which Croatia has matured have been depicted.
It is possible to constantly repeat the well-known instances of wrongdoing from the recent past, about which no truthful person will argue that they are not worthy of condemnation. It is possible to make attempts to use them to form memories to make it seem that the hundreds of thousands of victims and the patriotism, courage and heroism of the Croatian people, starting with the volunteer defenders, are without value. It is possible to speak about one’s homeland in various ways but the truth should not be denied. The truth about the foundations of modern Croatia is primarily a matter of pride, and not shame; magnanimity, and not despair. Even when others bear witness to this about us, we have the tendency to deprecate ourselves. This applies to Croatian officials and to everyone who has been entrusted to speak about Croatia. We have seen many times in our history that every time the voice of good is silent or suppressed, space has been provided for the clatter of untruth, which can pollute the lives of generations for decades.

5. We should ask ourselves in whose interest it is for the Croatian people confronting today’s challenges not to be united and not to find responses to dangers in harmony. While we are witnesses to how much our people are suffering, looking for work, how families are surviving, we do not forget that we have encountered the solution to that problem, which is in love and readiness for active compassion that knows how to give comfort, renounce one’s own convenience for the good of the other and fight in one’s milieu for the common good. We know that if our neighbor is not happy, our happiness is diminished.
As the Church, which some with incredible glibness accuse of insensitivity toward the poor, of wealth and selfishness, we know that our true wealth is in the faithful who bear genuine witness to their faith and through conscientious work and diligence set examples of patriotism.
We are justified in asking if there has ever been a time when we could say that it was easy for us. Well, if we knew how to safeguard the pledge of hope then, can we not do so today? Or, nonetheless, does someone want Croatian unity to disappear?

6. It is painful to witness the sterile and complacent lack of political gravitas that transforms serious issues and actual national interests into short-lived tasteless debates, without apparent concern for creating and supporting joint projects or focusing upon concern for the future. We need to have economic aspirations and to take steps within our feasible parameters, based upon the resources that have been provided by the homeland, but we especially need to educate children, support families and preserve our national treasures.

Via today’s media, it is not difficult to raise doubt, destroy trust, undermine the honest work of individuals and institutions, attach labels irresponsibly, accuse and condemn. This is most often perpetrated without any aspiration for truth or prosperity. Sometimes it is enough to prevent attention from shifting away from the surface. We are distressed when the activity of the Church is approached in a superficial manner but we see that the same thing happens to other institutions that, regardless of the multitude of obstacles, intrinsically possess the power to transform society.
This message is also an appeal for the institutions that are the pillars of our society, especially educational, scientific and cultural, to come together with noble and feasible economic goals in united activity for the good of the homeland. For each such step, effort is required that perseveres despite imposed illusions. If in the past, faced with the greatest dangers, we knew how to recognize and live the depth of the truth that shattered an inaccurate image of Croatia, we can do so now. We must not allow the trial of despondency to prevail. With trust in Divine Providence, praying for a human response guided by the Spirit of Love, we invoke a heavenly blessing upon you and our homeland.

Lovran, October 21, 2010
Your Bishops