Strassbourg, April 20, 2001 (IKA) — The president of the Croatian Conference of Bishops (CCB), Archbishop Josip Bozanić of Zagreb, was elected first vice president of the Council of European Bishops Conferences (CCEE) on Wednesday, April 18, at the regular session of the CCEE held in Strassbourg. As first vice president, Archbishop Bozanić will replace Cardinal Karl Lehman, president of the German Conference of Bishops.
In a statement for our agency, Msgr. Bozanić said that in this election for the first time the presidents of the European conferences of bishops were not divided into Eastern European and Western European but were all designated as European.
“We can say that in the past the CCEE treated us in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the conferences of bishops from the entire region as recipients when it had to assist us, service us or intervene for us. With the election of the president of the Croatian Conference of Bishops as the vice president of the CCEE, in a certain way we have become an entity and as such will participate in the important religious, social, cultural, political, ethical and moral issues of Europe,” said the president of the CCB.