Zagreb, May 17, 1997 (IKA) — Cardinal Franjo Kuharić, president of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, sent a letter to Father Marinko Zadro, Dominican provincial, regarding the participation of a Dominican, Father Vjekoslav Lasić, on May 9 in the political manifestations that occurred on the Square of Croatian Great Men (Trg hrvatskih velikana) in Zagreb. The cardinal#!s letter was prompted by “An open letter to the Catholic Church on the occasion of neo-Ustasha [neo-Fascist] provocations on the celebration of European Day,” sent on May 12 by Zoran Pusić, president of the Municipal Council for Human Rights in Zagreb. Zoran Pusić asserts that Father Vjekoslav Lasić led a group that sang Ustasha songs and shouted insults at a group of citizens who wanted the square to be returned to its former name, Victims of Fascism Square (Trg žrtava fašizma). Cardinal Kuharić forwarded Mr. Pusić#!s letter to Father Zadro, requesting him to resolve this matter with Father Lasi . The cardinal cautioned: “If it becomes necessary, we must defend the honor of the Catholic Church.” He added that Father Lasi #!s activities “are not even in the interest of Croatia.”
The cardinal#!s letter particularly emphasized that Zoran Pusić#!s “letter places the Catholic Church in the position of a defendant, although the Church does not stand nor can it stand behind the political activities of Father Vjekoslav Lasić,” since “the Church indeed does not want a priest to participate in any political activities whatsoever, especially in street incidents such as the one described in the letter, because of which we received a lecture about what the Church ought to do.” After being cautioned that the Church must defend its honor in this respect, the cardinal concluded, “Even in the event that what was written in the letter did not occur, it is necessary to respond to the public.”
In Zoran Pusić#!s open letter, he mentions one other Catholic priest, Father Luka Vincetić, who also participated in the manifestations at the square that day — on the side of the antifascists. Nevertheless, Zoran Pusić holds the Church leadership responsible only for Vjekoslav Lasić#!s behavior, asserting that the silence of the Catholic Church in this instance “signifies that the Catholic Church in Croatia approves of such conduct.”