Zadar (IKA) – Under the auspices of the Zadar Archdiocese and the University of Zadar, a scientific symposium was organized in Zadar on November 16 and 17 – Seventeen Centuries of the Zadar Church. The occasion for the organization of the symposium was the jubilee celebration of the 1,700th anniversary of the martyrdom of St. Anastasia (sveta Stošija), the patron saint of the Zadar Archdiocese, after whom the cathedral in Zadar is named. The opening ceremonies were attended by Academic Emilio Marin, the ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Holy See, representatives of the local authorities and representatives of scientific, cultural, social, economic and military institutions.

Topics on history and the artistic heritage were presented in 10 thematic groups by 69 experts from Croatia, Italy and Germany. In fifty-minute presentations, topics from the following areas were covered: the period of early Christianity and the Zadar Diocese (4th century – 1154), the Zadar Archdiocese during the period of the autonomous commune (1154–1409), the Zadar Archdiocese during the period of the Venetian regime (1409–1797), the Zadar Archdiocese from the fall of the Venetian Republic to the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1797–1918), the Zadar Archdiocese from the end of World War I to the pastoral visit by Pope John Paul II to Zadar (1918–2003), bishops and archbishops of Zadar, Church orders on the territory of the Zadar Archdiocese, Glagolitic manuscripts on the territory of the Zadar Archdiocese, historical-artistic heritage of the Zadar Archdiocese, and the veneration of saints and holy places in the Zadar Archdiocese.

The goal of the symposium was to strengthen the identity and spiritual calling of the Zadar Church at the beginning of the third millennium, according to Archbishop Ivan Prenđa of Zadar. The arrival of the gospel in these regions during the first generation of the Church is confirmed in a letter from St. Paul in which he says: “Titus went to Dalmatia,” according to the archbishop, who added that the Church in the Roman colony of Jadera formed gradually, with a bishop and clergy.

Dr. Stjepan Krasić of the Pontifical University in Rome said: “Few churches in the world can boast of such a long and successful past as the Zadar Church. All the significant events in the ecclesial, religious, cultural and political aspects of the life of the Croatian nation occurred within the Zadar Church. Therefore, this symposium has outgrown the title of the History of the Church.”