Osijek, October 8, 2001 (IKA) — Within the auspices of the Episcopal Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops for the Laity, a symposium was held in Osijek from October 5 to 6 on “The Possibility of Organizing the Activities of the Lay Faithful in Croatia.” The meeting was attended by 200 participants, the majority of whom were lay faithful, of whom one part was selected among professionals and the other among actively engaged lay faithful in the dioceses. Also attending were priests, religious, nuns and bishops.
The work of the symposium was divided into groups that discussed the activity of the lay faithful in the Church structures: temporary and permanent, volunteer and paid activities by lay faithful on the parish and diocesan level; possible activities by lay theologians in the Church and society; lay faithful in public and political life; the activity of the lay faithful in the media; implementation of the social doctrine of the Church in society and the Church; young people and women in the Church; the intellectual call of the faithful in the Church, society, sciences and culture, Catholic associations and movements.
At the end of the symposium, a statement was issued which contained a series of goals, conclusions and proposals reached at the meeting in Osijek. In order for the process of arousing the laity and lay questions that “gained momentum with the establishment of the democratic and independent Croatian state” to continue successfully in the spirit of the Second Vatican Council and post-conciliar documents on the lay faithful, another meeting of the organization sections was announced in preparation for a symposium within a period of two months. The statement also announced the establishment of an Office for the Laity by the Croatian Conference of Bishops, with a special section for young people, which is an essential prerequisite for successfully organized activity by the laity in the Church and society. The Office should be organized within a period of six months. The statement also emphasizes the readiness of the meeting participants to receive theological instruction, professional training and personal spiritual edification. An important place is afforded to the implementation of the social doctrine of the Church in society and emphasis on the preparation of meetings of the laity who are actively engaged in public activities, as well as the creating of the structural prerequisites for meetings of Catholic intellectuals. The statement by the participants at the symposium in Osijek invites the Church public, particularly lay theologians and other intellectuals, “to pay studious attention to questions connected with the various areas of engagement by the lay faithful and a better assessment of the place and role of women in the Church and society.” It was proposed that the Episcopal Commission for the Laity of the Croatian Conference of Bishops should continue to assemble professionals and organize similar symposia “at which individual questions of Church and public life would be analyzed and considered.” In the statement, the religious communities and Church pastoral workers are invited “to recognize and specifically encourage gifted young people to become engaged in the educational, cultural, scientific, social and media aspects of the evangelical mission.” Another topic was the need to consider the possibility of introducing the position of pastoral assistant at the level of the parish communities and a professionally engaged lay theologian as an animator for some aspects of pastoral activity in the diocese. At the end of the statement, it was concluded that there is “a need to establish a coordinating committee that would make the necessary preparations for a national council of laity to oversee the existing lay organizations and coordinate their contributions and work” and encourage all the faithful to open themselves further to the possibility of organized activity in movements and associations.