Zagreb, February 6, 2001 (IKA) — The chairperson of the Institute for Pastoral Theology, Vienna University, Prof. Paul Michael Zulehner, presented a lecture entitled The Church in the Croatia of Tomorrow: Social Presence and Internal Organization, on Monday, February 5, in the Vijenac Auditorium of the Theological Seminary of the Zagreb Archdiocese. Prof. Zulehner presented a large study entitled Aufbruch, in which several investigative teams studied the position of the Church during and following the communist regimes in ten post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The results showed that the new democracies are unstable, and unemployed citizens and the working poor feel nostalgic for communism. When asked how they experience the Church, Croatian respondents stated that they feel that it is something that helps but at the same that is distant from people. Croats feel that the Church can provide answers to the meaning of life, moral problems and family life, but has much less to say about social problems or, for example, law and order. In Prof. Zulehner’s opinion, the greatest problem facing the socially repositioned Church is leaving the ghetto imposed during the communist regime. A central question regarding the social presence of the Church is the promotion of the Catholic intelligentsia. Prof. Zulehner also asserted that the repositioning of the Church in society cannot be implemented without the laity. Speaking about the internal structure of the Church under contemporary challenges, Prof. Zulehner rejected the opinion that the Church should become more modern, but he feels that it must confront the challenges of contemporary life. For this, it is necessary to move from the traditional to a personalized form of faith. Another instrument by which the Church can immunize itself against modernization is the creation of communities of the faithful. Prof. Zulehner also believes that it is necessary to move from the narrow concept of the Church in which priests have the dominant role toward a broader understanding of the Church as a nation of God. Prof. Zulehner explained that this does not imply a devaluation of Church officials but an increase in the value and significance of all Christians. It is also necessary to discuss the place of women in the Church and to produce a reasonable model for Church self-financing.
The lecture was attended by Archbishop Josip Bozanić of Zagreb, Bishop Marin Srakić of Đakovo-Srijem and Auxiliary Bishop Vlado Košić of Zagreb. This event was organized under the auspices of the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Zagreb.