Zagreb, August 20, 1997 (IKA) — The editorial board of the Catholic weekly newspaper Glas Koncila has been forced to defend itself publicly against serious accusations made by Ivan Zvonimir Čičak, president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee. An editorial commentary appears in the most recent issue of GK. In two consecutive issues of the weekly newspaper Feral Tribune, Čičak claimed that the regular commentaries in Glas Koncila promote fascism and racism, openly equating Catholicism, the Croatian nation and the Croatian authorities. According to Čičak, the commentator of GK has descended to the moral and human depths.
In an editorial commentary in the most recent issue of Glas Koncila, the editorial board states that i ak#!s accusations are without any basis, whatsoever. There has never been any defense of fascism or racism in GK, or any equating of Croatian nationality with Catholicism. Such texts simply do not exist. On the contrary, in recent years, the editors of GK have received very sharp public attacks from extreme rightist nationalists complaining that the newspaper insists excessively upon the separation of Church and State, especially because the Catholic Church did not support any political party, including the one currently in power, during the the primary election campaign. Regarding Čičak#!s text and unsupported accusations, the editorial board of Glas Koncila did not enter into polemics. It only warned the public that his slanders are without any foundation. It also poses the question of why the president of the Croatian Helsinki Committee has chosen this particular time. The entire matter assumes particular gravity because for years Ivan Zvonimir Čičak has presented himself as a distinguished Catholic intellectual who was persecuted and imprisoned during the communist regime. He thereby earned a certain reputation, even among the international Catholic public. This public must be confused by his current attacks against the leadership of the Catholic Church and Catholic press in Croatia. Besides the attacks against Glas Koncila, Čičak has explicitly extended his accusations to the majority of the Catholic hierarchy in Croatia. According to authenticated minutes from a meeting of the Croatian Helsinki Committee in Osijek, Čičak called Cardinal Franjo Kuharic a liar and sought more energetic discreditation of the Catholic hierarchy in Croatia. It remains to ask why, for whose benefit and in what connection Čičak is behaving in such a manner. The confusion is compounded by the fact that Čičak, while continuing to represent himself as a Catholic intellectual, makes his accusations in a publication such as Feral Tribune, known for its negativism in political and public life. Feral Tribune is repugnant to Catholics due to its frequent arrogant insults of religious sentiment and that which is held sacred.