Zagreb, April 8, 2000 (IKA) — The Croatian bishops focused their attention upon the need for greater cooperation between the clergy and laity for the good of the Church and the general good. From the spring session of the Croatian Conference of bishops, held in Zagreb from April 4 to 6, they issued a special letter to priests, men and women religious, and the laity concerning this issue. In the letter, the bishops point out that Pope John Paul II has called for a general renewal of the Church on the occasion of the Great Jubilee as well as a reexamination and more faithful implementation of the documents from the Second Vatican Council, which emphasize the irreplaceable role of the laity in the life and mission of the Church. The fundamental call to the laity is a call to holiness that implies a life according to the Spirit, manifested by participation in earthly tasks so that “neither family concerns nor other worldly tasks should be permitted to remain outside the framework of spiritual life.” Urging the clergy and laity to work together, the bishops cautioned that working together does not mean exchanging or abolishing the distinction between their roles, because both the clergy and laity have their own irreplaceable places and roles in the mission of the Church, and neither of these callings, if accepted in the spirit of Christ’s service, brings privileges or advantages.
The letter expresses the bishops’ satisfaction that the study of theology is no longer confined to the clergy but lay theologians are also being trained in Catholic institutions of higher learning, particularly at institutions of cathechetics. This generates a great spiritual and intellectual potential, and the participation by trained laity in the mission of the Church has already yielded abundant fruits, particularly in the religious instruction provided in public schools. Although aware of current and potential difficulties, the Croatian bishops anticipate that such cooperation will spread increasingly to other areas of pastoral activity. Pleased that many lay faithful, either as individuals or members of various movements, have already become involved in the life of their parish communities, the bishops nevertheless recommend that such cooperation could and should be even greater and more responsive to the needs and challenges of our times. They urge priests to be open to working with these movements, which Pope John Paul II has called a sign of “the springtime of the Church.” The members of movements are urged not to close themselves off but to be open within the parish communities and serve as their yeast.
At the end of the letter, the Croatian bishops discuss the mission of the laity in worldly affairs. They urge those who have decided upon a political career to serve “without regard for their own interests or for material advantages. With integrity and wisdom, they must take action against any form of injustice and tyranny, against arbitrary domination by an individual or a political party and any intolerance. They should dedicate themselves to the service of all with sincerity and fairness, indeed, with the charity and fortitude demanded by political life.” (GS 75). They are also called to become active in the fields of economics, culture, the media and other segments of society. The bishops recommend the Eucharist to priests and the laity as a model of cooperation and mission in today’s world of this Jubilee Year.
The bishops also decided to prepare a national directory on the lives and service of permanent deacons. As far back as the 1982 meeting of the Yugoslav Conference of Bishops held in Đakovo, the establishment of a permanent deanery was deemed necessary and useful, and this still applies for the Croatian Conference of Bishops. Current questions concerning religious instruction in schools were discussed and it was decided to define it more specifically in comparison to parish catechesis, for which new textbooks are being prepared and about which the bishops will soon issue a pastoral letter. The Bylaws of the Croatian Conference of Bishops were approved and a new feature is that mandates in the Croatian Conference of Bishops will now last for five years. A new Commission for Relations with the Government has been appointed, consisting of Archbishop Anton Tamarut of Rijeka-Senj as the president together with Bishop Želimir Puljić of Dubrovnik and Bishop Antun Škorčević of Požega.