The 45th Plenary Session of the Croatian Conference of Bishops was held from November 13 to 15, 2012, at the headquarters of the CCB in Zagreb, Ksaverska cesta 12a. The participants also included the Apostolic Nuncio in the Republic of Croatia, Msgr. Alessandro D’Errico; the Envoy of the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Military Ordinary Msgr. Tomo Vukšić; the Bishop of Subotica, Msgr. Ivan Penzeš; and the Bishop of Srijem, Msgr. Đuro Gašparović.
At the beginning of the working portion of the session, the bishops expressed their support for the inauguration of the proceedings for the beatification of Bishop Antun Mahnić of Krk (1850—1920).
Cardinal Josip Bozanić and Auxiliary Bishop Đuro Hranić of Đakovo-Osijek spoke about the Thirteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, the theme of which was “New Evangelization for the Transmission of Christian Faith,” held from October 7 to 28, 2012, in Rome. They presented details about the organization and some highlights of the Synod, which assembled bishops and observers from around the world. They particularly emphasized the climate of Catholicity and the universality of the Church, which prevailed at the Synod and was reflected in the presentations of experiences and proposals by Church communities from all parts of the world.
Auxiliary Bishop Ivan Šaško of Zagreb, President of the Council of the CCB for Catholic Schools and Church Institutions of Higher Education, spoke about Catholic schools in the sense of determining the status of Catholic schools in compliance with the Agreement on Cooperation in the Fields of Education and Culture, as well as legal issues between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia, amendments to the acts of establishment, and the building and preservation of the specific nature of Catholic schools. In accordance with the Agreements, the Catholic Church has the right to establish schools at any level, which the Republic of Croatia recognizes as legal entities, and their staffs and students are afforded the same rights as those in state schools. Bishop Šaško emphasized the need for developing a strategy for expanding the network of Catholic schools at the diocesan level and religious communities, with particular emphasis upon the forms of schools prior to secondary school. He also cautioned that there is a need for greater coordination at the level of the CCB in order to achieve unified activity at the national level. Bishop Antun Škvorčević of Požega was entrusted by the bishops with developing a strategy on issues connected with Catholic schools.
At the session, following a report by the President of the National Catechetical Office, Msgr. Ivica Pažin, on conducting religious education in elementary and secondary schools, the Croatian bishops expressed their joy at the openness of parents and students who, through their personal choice of religious education in school, always present the Church with new tasks regarding the quality of religious training and education. They also discussed a serious issue, which is primarily related to the violation of the Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia on Cooperation in the Fields of Education and Culture (Article 1, Item 1) and the Agreement between the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Government of the Republic of Croatia on Catholic Religious Education in Public Schools and Religious Training in Public Preschool Institutions (Article 3, Item 1), by which the right to two hours weekly of religious education in schools for the entire duration of schooling is established. Contrary to this, within the framework of “nursing education,” i.e., medical secondary schools, this right has not been respected since the beginning of the current academic year. Namely, religious education is not being provided at all in the third year of secondary medical schools and, in accordance with the reforms of secondary medical schools, starting next year the same thing should occur in the fourth year, so that religious education at secondary medical schools would only remain in the first two years (one hour per week). The bishops also analyzed the consequences of a recommendation by Minister Jovanović on the conducting of religious education in elementary schools during the first and last hours of the school day. In some schools, these consequences are evident in discrimination against religious education as a subject, and complicate instruction in some schools. The bishops expressed astonishment and indignation at the unwillingness of the minister of science, education and sports to meet with representatives of the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the National Catechetical Office to discuss these issues.
The bishops were informed about the relevant facts concerning the introduction, implementation and content of the Health Education Curriculum and positively evaluated the contents of its first three modules. However, they were surprised by the manner of introducing health education in elementary and secondary schools, the fact that it would be compulsory for all students, and the contents of its fourth module, which in regard to attitudes on gender equality and responsible sexual behavior are completely contrary to the Christian attitudes of students, their parent and also many educators. The bishops particularly emphasized the inadmissibility of the gross violations of the constitutional rights and the freedom of parents to decide how their children are raised (Constitution of the Republic of Croatia, Article 63, Item 1). Namely, “parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26, Item 3) and the state in the performance of its functions connected with education and teaching shall “respect the right of parents to ensure that education and teaching are in conformity with their own religious and philosophical convictions” (cf. European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Protocol 1, Article 2; cf. the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights of the European Union, Article 14, Item 3). This right is given to parents by numerous international legal acts and documents of European institutions, of which the Republic of Croatia is a signatory, all the way up to the recent Council of Europe Regulation on the Right to Freedom of Choice in Education (October 4, 2012, No. 1904/2012).
The bishops consider the unprofessional and inadmissible approach to this serious issue to be extremely troubling and urge the Croatian Government and Ministry of Science, Education and Sports to respect the positive European, international and Croatian laws and other legal acts in a consistent manner. They consider the present fourth module of the Health Education Curriculum to be unacceptable in many ways and demand that in accordance with the Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia on Cooperation in the Fields of Education and Culture that it should be in compliance with the values of Christian ethics (cf. Article 1, Item 2). The bishops also urged all Catholic parents to become personally acquainted with the contents of the Curriculum and express their support to the parents, teachers of religion and other educators who are raising their voices in defense of their rights and the dignity of their consciences. Together with other religious communities in the Republic of Croatia, the Croatian Conference of Bishops is seeking ways to defend the parental and religious rights guaranteed in the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia and the Law on the Legal Status of Religious Communities.
As a separate issue, regarding the implementation of the Health Education Curriculum, the Croatian Conference of Bishops also discussed the question of the implementation of the Curriculum in Catholic schools. In connection with this, the bishops confirmed that on the basis of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Croatian Conference of Bishop on Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools, dated May 23, 2011, “Catholic schools have the right to conduct educational programs … in accordance with Catholic moral principles (Article 9).
With regard to the interpretation of the inviolability of confessional secrets within the framework of the debate on amendments to the Criminal Code, the CCB reiterated the immutable doctrine of the Catholic Church that every priest who celebrates the Sacrament of Reconciliation, hears confession, “is bound … to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him and he can make no use of knowledge that confession gives him about penitents’ lives. This secret, which admits of no exceptions … remains ‘sealed by the sacrament'” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1467). Moreover, a law contrary to this doctrine would at the same time also be contrary to the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (Article 40) and to the Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia on Legal Questions (Article 8, Item 2). In addition, we note that priests, protecting confessional secrets over the centuries, have given their lives, remaining faithful to their vocations. The present generation of priests is also prepared to do so.
After the media began to spread the impression that relations between the Croatian authorities and Holy See were excellent, with the only problem being the positions of the Croatian bishops, the bishops stress that these are imputations intended to undermine Church unity and mutual trust at various levels. At the same time, the bishops pointed out that there are no disputes whatsoever between the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Holy See, as suggested by some senior Croatian officials in recent statements.
The Croatian bishops discussed the current extremely grave social situation in Croatia with particular concern. There has been an alarming increase in the number of socially vulnerable people and, therefore, the bishops appeal to all those responsible in our society to work as hard as possible in order to overcome the challenges imposed by the global crisis, on the one hand encouraging appropriate economic solutions that will result in increased employment and, on the other hand, in the spirit of universal solidarity and sensitivity, to devote special attention to those who are the most vulnerable and most affected by the crisis. The bishops particularly urge the faithful and all Church institutions, especially charitable, to contribute to overcoming the current situation.
Commenting on the current situation in anticipation of the second instance appeals of the verdicts against the Croatian Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, the bishops noted that during the past two decades of Croatian sovereignty, there have been many hardships that we as believers have perceived in the light of faith and the history of salvation, with gratitude to all, especially the Croatian soldiers who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of our homeland.
However, with the liberation of the Croatian territories, the challenges and trials of those who bore the brunt of the war years have not ceased. Many veterans have endured persecutions and litigations, and some have also endured political abuse. The bishops emphasized the necessity of commitment to justice and respect for the law, condemning all crimes that have occurred while also cautioning against subjective and malicious judgments and actions as well as the lack of sensitivity by the institutions whose duty it is to promote the truth about Croatian defense, suffering and the other consequences of the war.
The bishops spoke about the forthcoming second instance appeals of the verdicts against the Croatian Generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markač, who made a great contribution to the liberation of our homeland from Serbian aggression, as well as the groups supporting these distinguished Croatian generals. The Croatian bishops called the faithful to unity and prayer for the final verdict to be consistent with the principles of justice and truth. The bishops also ask all those expressing support these days for the Croatian Generals Gotovina and Markač in various ways, to do so with dignity, respect and gratitude toward them and the many Croatian soldiers whose unselfish sacrifices gave all of us our freedom.
The President of the CCB Council for Mass Communications, Archbishop Ivan Devčić of Rijeka, spoke about the media institutions of the CCB. Namely, since the media institutions of the CCB—Press Office, Croatian Catholic Radio and the Croatian Catholic Press Agency (IKA)—will soon be relocated to the new CCB building, it is necessary for them to work together and launch a new Internet portal. In this sense, some suggestions and guidelines were provided to make the activity of the media institutions of the CCB as efficient as possible.
The bishops also adopted new bylaws for Caritas Croatia.
The presidents of individual bodies of the CCB submitted reports on their areas of activity. Delegates of the CCB to other bishops’ conferences in 2013 were appointed.
Due to the expiration of the mandate of the previous President of the CCB, Archbishop Marin Srakić of Đakovo-Osijek, at this session the bishops elected Archbishop Želimir Puljić of Zadar as the new President.
Some other changes in the bodies of the CCB were also made at the session. Auxiliary Bishop Ivan Šaško of Zagreb was appointed as the new President of the Episcopal Commission of the CCB for the Liturgy. New members of the Episcopal Commission of the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome were appointed: Archbishop Marin Srakić of Đakovo-Osijek, Bishop Ante Ivas of Šibenik, Bishop Dražen Kutleša of Poreč-Pula and Auxiliary Bishop Ivan Šaško of Zagreb. The representative of the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be appointed later. The new President of the Legal Commission of the CCB is Bishop Dražen Kutleša. Bishop Mate Uzinić was appointed as a member of the Mixed Commission of the CCB and Croatian Conference of Religious Superiors. Bishop Vjekolav Huzjak was appointed to head the Council for Migrants. Msgr. Enco Rodinis was reappointed as the Head of the Central Institution for the Upkeep of the Clergy and Other Church Officials and the Head of the Financial Office, as was Msgr. Ivica Pažin as the Head of the National Catechetical Office. The bishops agreed upon the calendar of events for the year 2013. A joint session of the CCB and the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be held in Zagreb on January 21, 2013. Regular sessions of the CCB will be held from April 9 to 11 and from October 16 to 18, 2013. A meeting of the CCB and religious superiors will be held on June 5, 2013.

Secretariat of the Croatian Conference of Bishops