Communiqué by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops on Violence in Society

The book Alojzije Stepinac: Pillar of Human Rights, by Dr. Esther Gitman, published by Kršćanska sadašnjost, was presented on Wednesday, February 13, at the Catholic University of Croatia in Zagreb by its editor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mario Kevo; the political analyst and publicist Višnja Starešina, and the author.

It is public knowledge that on November 18, 2018, the Croatian Catholic bishops sent Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej a letter, the content of which was not published. There has been some speculation in certain journalistic circles. In order to avoid conjectures, misinterpretations or untruths, the Croatian Conference of Bishops is hereby publishing said letter in its entirety:

The Simon Wiesenthal Center issued a statement February 3, 2019 praising several Holocaust remembrance initiatives launched this year for the first time by Croatian Cardinal Josip Bozanić.

On Thursday, January 24, a prayer-commemorative gathering in anticipation of International Holocaust Remembrance Day was held in front of the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Zagreb, under the auspices of the Archdiocese of Zagreb and the Hatikva Jewish Information Education Center.

The Prophetic Dimension of Christians in the Life of the Church and Society is the theme of the Fifty-Ninth Theological-Pastoral Week, January 22‒24, organized by the Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, at the Interdiocesan Seminary in Šalata, Zagreb.

Members of the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina held their twenty-first regular annual joint session on January 21, 2019, at the headquarters of the Croatian Conference of Bishops in Zagreb.

A meeting was held at the Bishop’s Residence in Požega between the bishops of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Croatia and representatives of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops on January 17, in a Christmas atmosphere on the eve of the International Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, at the invitation of the Catholic Bishop of Požega, Msgr. Antun Škvorčević, President of the Council of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for Ecumenism and Dialogue.

We, bishops of the Catholic and Serbian Orthodox Churches in Croatia, at the invitation of the Catholic Bishop of Požega, Msgr. Antun Škvorčević, met together at the Bishop's Residence in  Požega on January 17, 2019.

On Thursday, January 17, at the initiative of the Archbishop and Metropolitan of Rijeka, Msgr. Ivan Devčić, President of the Committee of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for the Mass Media, a meeting was held at the headquarters of the Croatian Conference of Bishops in Zagreb between representative of the Croatian Catholic Network and representatives of other electronic and print media organizations.