The President of the Justitia et Pax Commission, Bishop Vlado Košić of Sisak, expressed satisfaction in this statement that International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugslavia had ultimately delivered a just verdict that respects the truth and what really happened during the Homeland War.

Zagreb, November 13–15, 2012

"Rejoice, O land of Croatia! With today's act end your long years of suffering during the war of liberation, postwar period and all the difficult years that we have endured, not only during the onerous wartime occupation but also in the postwar period when various theories from our country and abroad were spread concerning the assessment of everything that happened to us"

Sacrifices, victims and wounds warn us that now, in peacetime, as a nation and society we must not forget their price and as a community we should do everything for them to become a pledge of social solidarity, dialogue and the rule of law.

Discussion mainly concerned the right to religious education in schools and the introduction of health education in the Croatian school system, interpretation of the inviolability of confessional secrets within the framework of the debate on amendments to the Criminal Code and the upcoming appeal verdicts in the cases of Croatian Generals Gotovina and Markač. At the session, the bishops expressed concern regarding the current grave social situation in Croatia.

As citizens of this state, we urge the Croatian Parliament, Government and relevant ministries to use all the honorable means at their disposal as elected government representatives in order to support the correction of the current attitude toward agriculture and prevent the potentially catastrophic consequences of the failure of a policy that allows and sometimes even creates unacceptable market conditions and structures.

Lecture by Dr. Esther Gitman at the Croatian Catholic University

Zagreb, October 22, 2012

Statement by the Justitia et Pax Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops