Zagreb, October 19, 2001 (IKA) — From October 16 to 18, the bishops of Croatia, led by Archbishop Josip Bozanić of Zagreb, assembled in Požega at the Twenty-Third Plenary Session of the Croatia Conference of Bishops. Their attention was focused upon the current grave world situation that “requires great patience and engagement at all levels as the prerequisites for achieving peace and advancement.” The bishops also expressed their profound distress regarding the fatal accidents that occurred recently in Croatian hospitals and included the victims and their families in their prayers, according to a statement issued by the Press Office of the CCB.
A separate item on the agenda was the visit to Zagreb by the Vatican minister of foreign affairs, Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, which the bishops evaluated as successful and beneficial for the Catholic Church in Croatia and the overall development of relations between the Church and State.
The bishops also discussed guidelines for the pastoral plan of the Catholic Church in Croatia, which under the new circumstances would promote more intensive pastoral activity. They particularly discussed the challenge posed by the mass media to the Catholic Church in Croatia. It was concluded that the media as a powerful means in evangelization is being insufficiently utilized, and there is a shortage of trained and qualified Catholics professionals and an sufficient awareness of the role and possibilities of the media in the mission of the Church, so that more decisive steps will be taken at the level of individual dioceses as well as the CCB. The bishops ordered more intensive organization of the work of the Press Office of the CCB and chose the Msgr. Vjekoslav Huzjak, general secretary of the CCB, as the official CCB spokesman. At the session, a draft of the Directory for Marriage and Family Counseling of the Catholic Church in Croatia was presented. On the occasion of the 110th anniversary of the social encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, Rerum novarum, the bishops announced a pastoral message that will address the current social conditions in Croatia. The final text was approved of The Book of Blessings with Croatian Additions and The Book of Rites for Exorcism and Other Prayers, both of which will be sent to Rome for approval to be used in the territories of the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Bosnian-Herzegovian Conference of Bishops. The selected and revised Program for Catholic Catechism in Middle Schools was approved as well as the revised Program of Religious Education for Preschool Children under Extra-Familial Conditions, to provide a systematic approach to religious education for children of this age group in the preschool institutions.
At the meeting, the Charta Oecumenica (Ecumenical Charter) was presented. Members of the CCB actively participated in this work and it had been signed in Strasbourg. The importance of the existing bodies for ecumenical cooperation and dialogue was confirmed and a meeting of the Episcopal Commission of the CCB for Dialogue with the Serbian Orthodox Church and the appropriate Commission of the Serbian Orthodox Church was urged.
The program of the Symposium in Commemoration of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Death of Cardinal Franjo Šeper was proposed. The symposium will be held in Zagreb on November 7–8 and in Rome on November 28–29. For this occasion, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, will come to Zagreb. The bishops were also acquainted with the program for the celebration of the Hundredth Anniversary of the Pontifical Office of St. Jerome in Rome, at which the majority of the members of the CCB will participate in Rome on November 15–16. The bishops evaluated a meeting of professionals held in Osijek on the possibilities of organized activity by lay faithful in Croatia as highly successful and discussed its proposals and initiatives.