Zagreb, (IKA) – The Fourteenth Session of the Council of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for the Laity and the first meeting of the Subcommittee for Persons with Disabilities of the same Council were held on February 16 in the building of the CCB in Zagreb, chaired by the Archbishop of Rijeka, Msgr. Ivan Devčić.
During the introductory part of the session, the members of the Council exchanged opinions on current sociopolitical issues, family law, conscientious objection, new topics of public interest and possible responses.
Then there was discussion of the topic of assembling the scientific and technical arguments necessary for public discussions as a contribution to the formation of state policies concerning fundamental Christian and social values. Today in the new social context, it is necessary to know how to explain and defend facts that until recently were self-evident in reference to the understanding of the fundamental values of civilization, life, human beings manifested in two sexes, marriage, family, the value of human work, the general good, truth and the like, primarily with scientific and expert arguments (which the public increasingly perceives as the only valid ones). Therefore, it is necessary to assemble, translate and systematize scientific and professional papers, and make them available for public use. Such knowledge should be popularized among the general public.
Next, the members of the Council were informed about the creation of a pan-Croatian prayer network that would encompass as many prayer and other communities as possible, as well as parishioners, for the permanent prayer intention of the conversion of the Croatian nation. In the aftermath of the positive experience with the seven-day vigil held at the beginning of Advent in the Chapel of Corpus Domini in Zagreb, another vigil will be held from February 25 to 28, with emphasis on the protection of life and peace in the world and in the homeland.
The participants were also presented with the example the Chapel of Perpetual Adoration, which opened in November 2014 in Podvežica, Rijeka.
In the second part of the session, the Subcommittee for Persons with Disabilities, whose members were appointed at the Autumn Plenary Session in October 2014, was presented. The Subcommittee consists of three members: Željka Šemper, Commissioner of Pastoral Ministry to Persons with Disabilities in the Diocese of Sisak; the Rev. Alojz Kovaček, Commissioner of Pastoral Ministry to Persons with Disabilities in the Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek, and Mirjana Dobranović, Vice President of the Association for the Promotion of Equal Opportunities (UPIM). The President is Archbishop Ivan Devčić of Rijeka and the Secretary is Marija Žebec of the Office of the CCB for the Laity.