Zagreb, October 26, 2001 (IKA) — Yesterday, Thursday, October 25, the Croatian Parliament passed a new Holidays, Commemorative Days and Nonworking Days Act, which introduced several new official holidays while abolishing several that have been celebrated until now. Since the Feast of the Epiphany (Three Kings) was among days which are no longer nonworking days and the Feast of Corpus Christi was introduced as a new nonworking day, we asked the new spokesman of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, the Rev. Vjekoslav Huzjak, to comment. Emphasizing that the new act passed by the Parliament must be addressed at a higher level than by the spokesman of the CCB, he merely said, “Abolishing the Feast of the Epiphany as a nonworking day and declaring Corpus Christi as a nonworking day would be a violation of Article 9, Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Contract between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia on Legal Questions.”
This point was also made by several opposition parties in the Parliament. It was decided that the entire problem should be re-examined by the Committee for the Constitution, Rules of Procedure and Political System and representatives of the parliamentary caucuses.
Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the Contract stipulates the following holy days as nonworking days: January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, New Year; January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany or Three Kings; Easter Monday; August 15, the Assumption of Our Lady; November 1, All Saints Day; December 25, Christmas; and December 26, the Feast of St. Stephen. In Paragraph 2, it is stated that the contracting parties “will agree upon eventual changes in nonworking days.” The problem obviously must be solved on an official level. The deputy prime minister, Dr. Goran Granić, in charge of relations between the Government and the religious communities, is away on a trip, as is the apostolic nuncio in the Republic of Croatia, Archbishop Giulio Einaudi.