Zagreb (IKA) – The pastoral tasks of the local Churches during the Year of the Eucharist, pastoral work among the young (especially college students), pastoral work among Romes, pastoral work among persons deprived of their freedom, spiritual guidance in hospitals, Croatian Caritas, the proclamation of Holy Childhood Day, and the return of church registries of births, marriages and deaths as well as other books that were illegally confiscated from the Catholic Church under communism are some of the topics that were discussed at the regular spring plenary session of the Croatian Conference of Bishops that was held from May 11 to 13 in Zagreb.

At a press conference held on May 13 at the Secretariat of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Ivan Devčić of Rijeka reported that the bishops had spent considerable time on the main topic of the session, the Year of the Eucharist as proclaimed by Pope John Paul II, centering their discussion upon the Eucharist as a mystery. They also spoke about the tasks during the Year of the Eucharist on the level of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, dioceses and parishes.

The bishops also discussed the work of Croatian Caritas and concluded that a more advanced and dynamic Caritas is needed that would be attentive to the needs of the society and provide assistance, according to its possibilities.

The Croatian bishops approved the proposed intentions for Apostolate prayer during the year 2006. Holy Childhood Day was proclaimed, to be celebrated in Croatia, as in 150 countries around the world, on the Feast of the Epiphany.

The president of the Committee for Young Persons of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, Bishop Ante Ivas of Šibenik, reported that the bishops discussed pastoral activity among young persons, especially college students. The bishops expressed the desire for much greater engagement in pastoral activity among college students and in cooperation with priests and religious will determine what should be done to elevate this aspect of pastoral work to a higher level. Regarding the problem of the summertime gatherings of young persons, which is just beginning in our country. Bishop Ivas mentioned the summer camp in Modrave within the Šibenik Diocese as an example of an interesting gathering.

The bishops also discussed World Youth Day, to be held this August in Cologne. According to Bishop Ivas, Germans have devoted considerable attention to us and their representatives, especially from the Munich Archdiocese, have come several times to attend meetings of our Committee for Young Persons.

The president of the Committee of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for Pastoral Activity among Romes, Archbishop Marko Culej of Varaždin, spoke about the involvement of the Church in pastoral activity with Catholic Romes and announced that a Catechism has been printed in our country in two Rome languages, Bayah and Lovar.

As the president of the Committee of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for Persons Deprived of their Freedom, Bishop Culej reported on pastoral work with persons in jails, prisons and reform schools. He mentioned that for now we have a priest in charge of spiritual guidance in prisons, the Rev. Marko Šmuc, who works at the prison in Lepoglava. According to Bishop Culej, the prison wardens say that the presence of a priest is very meaningful to the prisoners.