Zagreb, (IKA) – From October 21 to 23, the Fifth Croatian Social Week assembled approximately three hundred participants, including sixty speakers from all over Croatia representing various professions, to discuss the topic of the Culture of Work in Croatia at the Center for the Promotion of the Doctrine of the Church of the Croatian Conference of Bishops. The opening was attend by Archbishop Cardinal Josip Bozanić of Zagreb; the President of the CCB, Archbishop Marin Srakić of Osijek-Đakovo, Archbishop Ivan Devčić of Rijeka, Bishop Vlado Košić of Sisak, Bishop Ivan Milovan of Poreč-Pula, Bishop Mile Bogović of Gospić-Senj, Vladika (Bishop) Nikola Kekić of Križevci, Bishop Vjekoslav Huzjak of Križevci-Bjelovar; Marijana Petir, Member of Parliament; Deputy Prime Minister Domagoj Milošević; and the Vice Present of the Social Week of France, Bernard Chenevez
In welcoming remarks, Cardinal Bozanić said that the fact that Christians are gathering together to reflect on the society, with existential questions about today’s person and the criteria of the social doctrine of the Church in their hearts, is a sign of the conscious and responsible participation by Christians in the life of the “earthly city.” Archbishop Srakić spoke about the history of the development of social thought, pointing out that Catholic social thought in Croatia had developed in parallel to that of Europe. Although World War II and the establishment of the totalitarian state disrupted Church organization in the social sense, it was not extinguished in the Church but began to flourish after the democratic changes. Departments of social sciences are being established, socio-religious research is being conducted, and the majority of the statements issued by the Justice and Peace Commission are of an essentially social nature, said Archbishop Srakić, adding that the social thought in Croatia is not so much meager as undiscovered. The President of the Program Committee of Croatian Social Week, Bishop Vlado Košić, spoke about the preparations, pointing out that the laity and priests had worked together on the organization of the meeting, guided by the principle of the common good. The Head of the Center for the Promotion of the Social Doctrine of the Church of the CCB, Mr. Gordan Črpić, pointed out that to think about work in Croatia today, assembling such a wide circle of people who have something to say about this subject, essentially means to think about the development of Croatia from an aspect that is contrary to the ideological currents that usually offer easy solutions, starting from the desired situation instead of the actual one. The gathering was also addressed by the Vice Dean of the Catholic Faculty of Theology, Dr. Slavko Slišković, and the Vice President of the Social Week of France, Mr. Bernard Chenevez.
The keynote address, “Croatian Social Weeks: History and Perspectives,” was presented by Dr. Stjepan Baloban. He recalled the many social initiatives by Catholics in various countries that preceded the first social encyclical issued Pope Leo XIII, Rerum novarum, dated May 15, 1891, which opened the door for the study and application of Catholic social doctrine, including the founding of Social Weeks in general, and subsequently Croatian Social Week. In 1932, the Bishops’ Conference established the institution of the Social Week, during which a series of social lectures was held. Three years later, the Bishops’ Conference asked Catholic Action in Zagreb to establish Social Week. Thus, the series of social lectures was the first Social Week, followed by those in 1937, 1938 and 1940. Prof. Baloban pointed out that the main purpose of Social Week is for Christian social doctrine to be applied in concrete work on the renewal of the society, and in this context referred to the subject matter of Croatian Social Weeks. One of the essential features is the active participation by the laity and Church representatives in seeking solutions to pressing and difficult socioeconomic and political issues on the basis of Catholic social thought. With the arrival of communist rule, the activities of all Catholic organizations and societies were interrupted. There was virtually no development in Catholic social thought under the new social circumstances. Although conditions were gradually created after the Second Vatican Council for a more active role by the laity in the Church, public arenas remained practically closed to them until the democratic changes.
In the second part of Msgr. Baloban’s presentation, he spoke about the future of Croatian Social Week. In this context, he recalled some events, without which it would be difficult to imagine the active presence of the faithful in the Croatian society and the Church. He observed that the Fifth Croatian Social Week has a better chance of taking hold in those dioceses where there are offices that deal with the social doctrine of the Church, noting that only the Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek and the Diocese of Sisak have such offices. Therefore, one of the positive results of the Fifth Croatian Social Week would be the establishment of new offices for the promotion of the social doctrine of the Church in the Croatian dioceses.
In the first block of the plenary lectures on the topic Work in Croatia, Dr. Zdenko Babić delivered a talk entitled “The Situation and Trends of Work in Croatia.” He presented the general trends of the economy and labor market, which he divided into four phases. For each of these, he presented supporting data from the Croatian Bureau of Statics and Eurostat concerning comparisons between Croatia and the European Union. Croatia currently has a relatively high unemployment rate in the European context and considerable untapped labor potential, with major problems regarding long-term unemployment, the high unemployment rate among the young and great regional disparities in terms of the labor market situation. It is necessary to develop a high quality national development strategy that would generate projects, as well as new social cohesion, which should result in a higher rate of economic growth, concluded Dr. Babić. “The Value of Work in Croatia” was the title of the presentation by Mr. Gordan Črpić, who noted that the value of work is related to the social capital, while the relevant parameters of social capital can be obtained from general confidence and trust in institutions. He explained that it is necessary to increase the level of social capital, i.e., trust in institutions and people, emphasizing the role of spirituality. Into spirituality, it is necessary to integrate an attitude toward work as a response to God’s call. Since it is evident that the family as an institution enjoys great confidence and is valued, the family should be assisted in preparing children for work, concluded Mr. Črpić. In a lecture entitled “Church Doctrine on Work,” Josip Grbac presented a historical overview, emphasizing the shift that occurred when the document Gaudium et spes resulted from the Second Vatican Council, which no longer speaks about rights and duties in labor relations but about work in relation to the Christian novelty, the commitment of Christians in the world, in which work is considered to be an integral part of a person’s calling.
In the second block of lectures, with the theme Family and Work, Dr. Vladimir Dugalić gave a talk entitled “The Family as a Privileged Place for Training for Work.” He cautioned that if we want to make the family a privileged place for training for work, it is necessary for the state to take its share of the responsibility, i.e., create a positive environment for the family, which should be of strategic interest. What is important is the responsibility of parents, who must teach values. Ms. Ljilja Vokić delivered a presentation entitled “Work in the Educational System of the Republic of Croatia,” in which she indicated that the teacher is the most important factor in education, whose status should be a particular concern to the state. A teacher today is threatened not only materially but also in other ways, most often by the behavior of students who are often protected by their parents, warned Ms. Vokić, and stressed that when the relationship among the child-parents-school is good, success is guaranteed. A lecture entitled “What Is the Family to Croatia and the EU and What Are Its Social Rights,” was presented by Dr. Aleksandra Korać Graovac and Dr. Nada Bodiroga-Vukobrat. They presented basic, sociological and legal definitions of the family, with particular attention to European legislation.
The second day of the Fifth Croatian Social Week, October 22, began with plenary lectures with the theme Perspectives: Work, Entrepreneurship and Social Security. In a lecture entitled “Work and Social Security,” Dr. Zoran Šućur focused on poverty and analyzed the connection between the risk of poverty and the various employee characteristics. He presented interesting data on the type of employment and working hours in the EU and Croatia, with particular emphasis on the composition and rate of unemployment in Croatia. At the end of his lecture, he proposed measures for the prevention and alleviation of the poverty among the working poor in Croatia. In a talk entitled “From Capitalism to the Gift Economy,” Dr. Neven Šimac spoke about the encyclical Caritas in veritate issued by Pope Benedict XVI, which is devoted to brotherhood, economic development and the civil society. The encyclical emphasizes the principle of gratuitousness and the logic of gift within regular economic activities. As places where gratuitousness is expressed, Dr. Šimac mentioned charitable and humanitarian activities, cooperatives and social entrepreneurship. The range of those who have a role in the development of gratuitousness as a gift is very large, from religious communities to new lay movements.
In a presentation entitled “Work and Socially Sustainable Entrepreneurship,” Dr. Drago Čengić pointed out that the long-term survival of entrepreneurship as an idea and business practice in Croatia is only possible, despite the current crisis in global capitalism, through the dual social legitimacy of entrepreneurship: the legitimacy of entrepreneurship, based on the economic impact of the entrepreneur (growth of the enterprise), and social responsibilities that are expressed toward employees. In order to achieve this, changes in the behavior of the current entrepreneurial and managerial elite are not sufficient but also that of other social actors, especially political leaders, unions and the civil society said Dr. Čengić, emphasizing that in order to turn the attention of the general public to the problems of the exploitation of workers and the authoritarian organizational culture in our enterprises, it would be necessary to perform a systematic and critical analysis of the quality of working life in Croatia.