Today, Prime Minister Andrej Plenković received the President of the Croatian Conference of Bishops and Archbishop of Zadar, Msgr. Želimir Puljić; the President of the Commission of the CCB for Relations with the State, Member of the Permanent Council of the CCB, Archbishop of Split-Makarska and Coadjutor and Apostolic Administer of the Diocese of Poreč-Pula, Msgr. Dražen Kutleša; and the General Secretary of the CCB, Fr. Krunoslav Novak, at the Ban’s Court (Banski dvori) in Zagreb.

In addition to the Prime Minister were the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Zdravko Marić; the Minister of Culture and Media and the President of the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities, Nina Obuljen Koržinek; and the Head of the Office of the Commission for Relations with Religious Communities, Šime Jerčić.

At the meeting, good relations between the Croatian Government and the Catholic Church were confirmed. It was emphasized that key topics regarding the work of the Mixed Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Government of the Republic of Croatia would continue to be addressed, especially legal, charitable and status questions.

Prime Minister Plenković and the representatives of the Croatian Conference of Bishops stressed the importance of continued discussions among the Catholic Church, Government and resource ministries on numerous issues. It was agreed that meetings at the level of the Prime Minister and the leadership of the CCB would be held twice a year, in the spring and autumn. 

The participants also discussed a meeting between the Prime Minister of the Government of Croatia with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, which  was held in Split this September, when good relations between Croatia and the Holy See were once again confirmed. 

Prime Minister Plenković spoke about the Government’s activities in combatting the coronavirus pandemic and safeguarding the health of Croatian citizens. He laid out the economic and social measures that the Government is undertaking to protect citizens’ jobs and standard of living. In this context, the Prime Minister thanked the representatives of the CCB for voluntarily reducing the commitment for the implementation of the contract between the Holy See and Republic of Croatia on economic matters by ten percent in 2020.