Zagreb (IKA) — In recent months, the Catholic Church in Croatia has been shaken by serious problems, primarily in connection with the home for abandoned children in Brezovica operated by Caritas in which, according to statements by a witness and the public prosecutor’s office, pedophilia was perpetrated several years ago. A 52-year-old former carpenter at that institution was recently brought in, whom witnesses together with the former director of that home, accuse of the sexual abuse of minors, who in this instance were also mildly retarded.

According to reports in the Croatian media, the abuse occurred in 1999. The director of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac Home for Abandoned Children in Brezovica allegedly informed the head of the Zagreb Archdiocese Branch of Caritas, Jelena Brajša, who immediately transferred the now incarcerated carpenter to the warehouse of another Caritas home but did not report him to the government authorities. Confronted with these accusations in April of this year, when the media again brought attention to this case, Brajša denied that there had been any sexual abuse whatsoever. On this occasion, Auxiliary Bishops Josip Mrzljak and Valentin Pozaić of Zagreb, relying upon the police statements about the investigation conducted those days, announced that there had been no irregularities whatsoever in the operations of the home for abandoned children. However, the chief state prosecutor, Mladen Bagić, became personally interested in the case and, as he said, confirmed irregularities in the government services among his assistants who had allegedly hushed up such cases, and subsequently reported daily to the Croatian media about new details. Two deputies at the Office of the State Prosecutor were relieved of their duties because they had covered up the case. The former deputy minister of social welfare, Nino Žganec, is also under strong pressure from the Croatian media and has been accused of having been acquainted with the abuse, which he denies. Information has also come out that draws several more employees of the home into this affair, including the former cook and a volunteer who had been convicted of pedophilia in France. Several of the childcare workers have been accused of physical abuse, including three nuns. Nonetheless, no criminal charges have been filed against Brajša and Žganec until now.

The Church hierarchy viewed the events reported by the media with disbelief. During the Mass for the Homeland on June 25, Archbishop Cardinal Josip Bozanić of Zagreb spoke about that case opening doors for investigation by the authorized government bodies and expressed condemnation and sorrow, promising that those found guilty would be punished. In the Church itself, the possibility that Jelena Brajša, whose name was synonymous with Caritas operations in Croatia under the communist regime and during the war, had covered up this case is viewed with incredulity. Bishop Mile Bogović of Gospić-Senj expressed his support in an open letter. The Croatian public is deeply divided about this case. According to the latest opinion poll, confidence in the Catholic Church as an institution has dropped ten percent since last year, from 33.3 percent in 2004, ahead of the president of the Republic, Stipe Mesić, who had 21.8 percent, to 23.8 percent, while President Mesić currently has a confidence rating of 26.7 percent. Even in Church circles, this decline in confidence in the Church as an institution is considered to be connected with the Brezovica case.