Marija Bistrica, July 14, 1999 (IKA) – On July 13, the celebration of the 790th anniversary of the locality of Bistrica was celebrated at the Croatian national shrine of Marija Bistrica with a number of Masses attended by many tens of thousands of pilgrims. This year#!s celebration of the anniversary of the first written document mentioning of the name of the locality of Bistrica was particularly festive and also included the blessing of a newly established Catholic radio station, Radio Marija Bistrica. The offices, technical equipment and all the personnel of the radio station were blessed by Auxiliary Bishop Josip Mrzljak of Zagreb. Priests from the dioceses of Zagreb, Varaždin and Đakovo-Srijem and the Croatian Catholic Mission in France attended the ceremony.
Bishop Mrzljak also conducted a Mass that afternoon in the shrine. In addition to congratulating the inhabitants of Bistrica and the radio station personnel, Bishop Mrzljak mentioned that in spreading the faith and proclaiming the gospel, it is necessary to use modern technological advancements such as the radio.
On behalf of Croatian Catholic Radio, good wishes were extended to the new station by the editor-in-chief of CCR, Fra Mirko Mataušić, Ph.D. Radio Marija Bistrica will broadcast in the region of Croatian Zagorje and will soon collaborate with Croatian Catholic Radio, which has a national concession. Recently, administrative changes have been made in Croatian Catholic Radio, founded and owned by the Croatian Conference of Bishops. Fra Mirko Mataušić will remain as editor-in-chief and Fra Ilija Živković, Ph.D., head of the Press Office of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, will become the general manager.