Zagreb, December 6, 1998 (IKA) – The executive committee of the Croatian Helsinki Commission for Human Rights has announced that a special lifetime achievement award will be presented to the Catholic Franjo Jurak, parish priest of the Sv. Marko Križevčanin Parish in Zagreb, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the ratification of the General Declaration of Human Rights. The Croatian Helsinki Commission will also present Effendi Ševko Omerbašić, president of the Meshihat of the Islamic Community of Croatia and Slovenia, with the its annual Mašović-Nikolić-Vincetić Award. In the announcement of the lifetime achievement award to be received by Fr. Jurak, it was stated that this award is being given to him for his promotion of human rights, dialogue and tolerance in religious communities. Fr. Franjo Jurak, born in 1927 in Zlatar, was a parish priest in Glina, Vočin and Maja during the 1960#!s, “at a time when it was difficult to spread ideas of tolerance and dialogue … He endured mockery, stigmatization, persecution and even physical abuse from local people but he endured. During the recent war in the early 1990#!s, he had many reasons for hatred and vengeance but chose forgiveness and love instead. When columns of refugees and displaced persons who were fleeing the war in the territory of Glina and Vočin appealed to him for assistance, he criticized no one for former persecution or scorn. Quite the opposite – he opened his heart and door to them, fighting for each individual,” states the award announcement. The text also notes that Fr. Jurak has actively helped the poor in the parish of Sv. Marko Križevčanin, as well as refugees and displaced persons via the parish branch of Caritas. Fr. Jurak, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1951, has been particularly engaged in ecumenical activity. As a young parish priest in Glina, he assisted and promoted the restoration of an Orthodox church that had been destroyed during WWII. Ten years later, he organized the direct broadcast of European evangelization by the American preacher Billy Graham from Düsseldorf. Several years ago, he initiated an ecumenical round table, The Spirit of Assisi, at which other Christian Churches and religious communities active in Zagreb were presented.
In the announcement of the award being made to Effendi Ševko Omerbašić, it was stressed that he is “a religious official whose engagement surpassed the boundaries of his profession and who tried to make religious ideas live during the difficult wartime period.” It was noted that during the recent war, Effendi Omerbašić had helped all in need, regardless of religious affiliation, and publicly opposed the destruction of any religious objects and all religious fundamentalism. It was also noted that Ševko Omerbašić (born in 1947 in Ustikolina, Bosnia-Herzegovina) has promoted reconciliation and forgiveness, and during the entire recent war in Croatia, was actively engaged in obtaining diplomatic recognition and assistance for Croatia.
The Mašović-Nikolić-Vincetić Award was established in memory of distinguished founders and members of the Croatian Helsinki Commission: the Islamic lawyer and university professor, Sulejman Mašović; the Serbian Orthodox priest, Fr. Jovan Nikolić; and the Roman Catholic priest and publicist, Fr. Luka Vincetić, all of whom died recently. The award is presented to persons whose efforts in support of religious freedom have surpassed the standards and obligations of their professions as well as the generally established public standards. The two awards will be presented on December 18 in the main auditorium of Novinarski Dom, Perkovčeva 2, in Zagreb.