Zagreb (IKA) – The president of Croatian Caritas, Archbishop Ivan Prenđa of Zadar, sent a circular letter to all fourteen diocesan branches of Caritas in Croatia, i.e. more than 1,000 parish branches of Caritas, informing them that there will be collections on the next two Sundays (January 4 and 11) in all the Catholic churches in Croatia in order to provide monetary assistance to Iran following the recent earthquake in the city of Bam. Croatian Caritas has also provided an opportunity to all citizens to make contributions via telephone and opened a special giro bank account for this purpose.

Croatian Caritas is the largest nongovernment and nonprofit humanitarian organization in Croatia. In response to the tragic consequences of natural catastrophes and at the urging of Pope John Paul II for effective Christian solidarity with our neighbors in distress, Croatian Cartitas has provided disaster assistance in other countries. It was the first organization in Croatia to collect monetary assistance and send Croatian volunteers following the massive flooding in Prague. After the earthquake in Turkey, it helped construct a school. In El Salvador after the earthquake, it collected monetary assistance for the construction of houses for the poorest victims. Croatian Caritas is part of the international Caritas network (Caritas Internationalis), which jointly and at the request of national branches of Caritas (in this case Iranian Caritas) assists the most vulnerable.