Krapina, (IKA) – At the 40th Jubilee Pilgrimage of Vehicles to Our Lady of Jerusalem on Trški Vrh above Krapina, held on June 3, the archbishop of Zagreb, Josip Cardinal Bozanić, urged drivers to contribute to the safety of passengers and reduce accidents on our roads by behaving in a sensible and responsible manner. Before blessing the drivers and vehicles, Cardinal Bozanić spoke about the frequent reports of serious accidents and fatalities on our roads, and the fact that until April 30 of this year, 173 persons had perished on the Croatian roads. In addition, 1,207 persons suffered serious injuries and 5,736 persons received minor injuries. Citing official figures from the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Republic of Croatia, which state that in the past thirty-seven years, up to April 30 of this year, 39,863 persons had been killed on Croatian roads, the cardinal commented an entire city of forty thousand persons had disappeared during these thirty-seven years (1970 – 2006). He stated such high fatalities should arouse a sense of responsibility in every citizen of our country. “Death on our roads prevails upon us all, individuals, authorities and nongovernment organizations, to act together in an organized manner. This concerns our wellbeing, our lives and particularly the lives of our young generations,” said Cardinal Bozanić. He also said that it is necessary to change our mentality and foster a culture of responsibility, and that our families and other educational institutions, particularly the schools and the Church, have a particular task in this area.
Cardinal Bozanić asked the assembled faithful to pray for all who had perished, especially the numerous young people who have met premature death on our roads, as well as for those who must bear the mental and physical consequences of traffic accidents throughout their lives.