Zagreb, April 29, 2003 (IKA) — The central committee of Central European Catholic Day, consisting of the presidents and general secretaries of the eight organizing countries, met on April 28 and 29 at the residence of the archbishop in Zagreb, as announced to journalists at a press conference today by the president of the Austrian Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn of Vienna, and the president of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Josip Bozanic of Zagreb. The motto of the celebration of Central European Catholic Day is “Christ — The Hope of Europe,” and at the meeting in Zagreb the presidents of the bishops’ conferences will sign a joint pastoral letter for the first time in history.
Cardinal Schoenborn emphasized that the guiding concept of this joint project includes three important points. The first is that Europe, together with Central Europe, needs reconciliation, since throughout history there have been many difficulties and rifts, and Christians want to take paths of reconciliation. The second important element, according to Cardinal Schoenborn, is that Europe shares not only a common economic past but developed along pilgrim paths and around great European shrines, so that the culmination of the celebration of Central European Catholic Day will be a pilgrimage to the Austrian Marian shrine of Mariazell, from May 21 to 23, 2004. As the third element, he spoke about the desire for Europe to be built on a common foundation. He pointed out that Europe is not merely an economic project but should be based on common Christian values. The activities around the celebration of Central European Catholic Day will begin in late May of this year. In response to a question on how Central European Catholic Day will contribute to the more rapid integration of Croatia within Europe, Cardinal Schoenborn commented that Croatia is already Europe, recalling that in 1998 the Holy Father said in Vienna that it is not necessary to speak about expanding the European Union to the East but the Europeanizing of the Union, because the Union is not European insofar as countries such as Croatia are not part of it. Central European Catholic Day in its way anticipates what should happen within the European Union, he said.
Archbishop Bozanic emphasized that the Catholic Church wants to build this community in all the countries of Europe, and the Catholic Church in Croatia wants to contribute to the community in this part of Europe, and then in all of Europe. Cardinal Schoenborn presented the tradition of the celebration of Catholic Day in Germany, where it is celebrated every other year, and in Austria, where it is traditionally held every ten years and where it is supranational in character. The last celebration of Catholic Day in Austria was in 1983. Cardinal Schoenborn reported that the Holy Father is invited to the concluding celebration in Mariazell. Archbishop Bozanic was the first to extend this invitation, and then Cardinal Schoenborn also invited the Holy Father to this Marian shrine, and further steps are under consideration.
These two presidents of bishops’ conferences expressed the conviction that cooperation shall continue even after the concluding celebration of Central European Catholic Day next year. Archbishop Bozanic announced that the beginning of the celebration in Croatia will be on May 31, in connection with the concluding celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Zagreb Archdiocese and Metropolitan Archdiocese. Furthermore, from this May to May of next year, several programs are planned within the auspices of the Croatian Conference of Bishops. As special gift, according to Archbishop Bozanic, during the year of the celebration of Central European Catholic Day, the Holy Father will visit Croatia. The archbishop also mentioned a symposium on marriage and the family, that the Croatian Conference of Bishops plan to organize in cooperation with the Czech Conference of Bishops, and on August 30 at the shrine of Marija Bistrica there will be an encounter among Catholics from Croatia and Slovenia. There are also plans in April of next year for a national encounter in Sibenik for young people in preparation for Mariazell.
Central European Catholic Day is a joint project of the eight bishops’ conferences of Central Europe (Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia).