Zagreb, May 27, 1999 (IKA) – On May 25, the fourth and final public forum sponsored during the month of May by the Center for the Promotion of the Social Doctrine of the Church, entitled the Social Dimension of the Christian in Parish Catechism and School Religious Education, was held in Zagreb. The lecturers were Dr. Josip Baloban, professor of pastoral theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty in Zagreb, and Dr. Alojzije Hoblaj, professor of religious pedagogy and catechism at the same institution. Those attending included Dr. Milan Šimunović, head of the National Catechism Bureau of the Croatian Conference of Bishops; Dr. Marijan Valković, a retired professor of moral theology from the Catholic Theological Faculty; Dr. Ružica Ćavar, president of the Life and Family Movement, and others. At the beginning of the forum, the head of the Center, Dr. Stjepan Baloban, greeted the guests and referred to significant documents from the field of the social doctrine of the Church, including those from the Italian Conference of Bishops, noting that “we in Croatia cannot boast about our own social documentation.” Speaking about the social dimension of the Christian in the parish. Dr. Josip Baloban first clarified the term “parish,” observing that it is the richest part of the Church. “Social training must begin in the parish,” he pointed out, noting that the social dimension is created through various parish activities in which all the faithful can and should participate. He particularly emphasized that social initiatives from higher levels of the Church lack significant impact if they are not rooted in the parishes. “In the evangelizing function of the parish, the social dimension should be constantly present. If it is not, Christians and professional evangelizers of the faith are performing truncated evangelization and catechism,” continued Dr. Baloban. Socialization is the task of the catechist but also that of the parents, who should foster within children a feeling for the social and charitable dimensions, and not guide the children in the direction “of arriving at a goal as soon as possible, with the minimum of effort and if possible to extract the maximum possible profit.” Dr. Baloban also spoke about the ceremonial function of the parish, in which the critical-prophetic impetus has been lost, while at the same time the social-charitable spirit has been greatly diminished. “It is not convincing to celebrate lavishly while some in the parish must count their coins to buy bread and milk.” He proposed that the charitable-social aspect of penance be introduced into confessional practice since it is this dimension that opens the Christian#!s eyes to the actual problems surrounding him. “The Catholic parishes in the Republic of Croatia are urged to strengthen their social-charitable activity toward concrete persons and acute problems in life and society,” stressed Dr. Baloban at the end of his lecture. Instead of a conclusion, he proposed several specific steps that can be taken in the parish, such as a proposal for the establishment of pastoral social commissions within a parish council to provide assistance to retired persons in distress, single mothers, families afflicted by alcohol and drugs, the elderly and the sick.
Dr. Alojzije Hoblaj spoke “on the social dimension of the Christian in religious education in schools.” At the beginning, he mentioned social doctrine, parish catechism, school religious instruction and the reasons and methods for introducing social doctrine into parish catechism and religious instruction. He attempted to divide the social doctrine of the Church into the text and context of the general catechism directory issued in 1997, that will certainly guide religious education, parish catechism and school religious instruction throughout the world for decades. Dr. Hoblaj then spoke about the help that social doctrine affords instructors in parish catechism and school religious instruction. Noting several important methodological directives, he emphasized that it is necessary to overcome the prejudices that social doctrine does not obligate the individual and that the strength is lacking for radical change.
Following the lectures, there was a discussion period during which it was emphasized that it would not be desirable for the leaders of Caritas and other councils and commissions in the parishes to be parish priests or parish vicars but that they should be lay persons. It was said that people are generally accustomed to all initiatives coming “from above,” i.e. from the highest authorities, which some feel is a consequence of the former social order under which we used to live. It was pointed out that the culture of democracy has still not been revived in Croatian society. All people, in this case parishioners, must become accustomed to sharing responsibility for the society.