Zagreb, October 8, 1999 (IKA) — The exhibition Croats — Christianity, Culture and Art, that will open in the Vatican on October 28, is “one of the most significant projects by the Republic of Croatia,” announced the minister of culture, Božo Biškupić, at a press conference held at the Ministry of Culture in Zagreb. Noting that during a three-month period (from October 28, 1999 to January 15, 2000), the exhibition will be seen by a large number of visitors, the minister noted that on ordinary days approximately 15 to 20 thousand visitors pass through the area where the exhibition will be held. Therefore, this exhibition will greatly promote Croatia and its culture. “This exhibition proves that Croatia was never ‘on the bulwarks of Christianity,’ as it is usually said, but grew deeply within it and has always been a part of Europe,” emphasized one of the main coordinators of the exhibition, Dr. Anđelko Badurina. At the press conference, the six categories of the 128 exhibits of original works were presented by Dr. Vladimir Marković. The first category encompasses the period from the 7th to the 11th centuries and is entitled “Christianity and Croatian Statehood.” The second category is “The Age of Cathedrals and Monasteries,” covering the period from the 12th to the 15th centuries. The third category, entitled “A Time of Trials — Christianity and Turkish Conquests,” was limited by the exhibition planners to the 16th century. The fourth category, entitled “New Religious Fervor and the Renewal of Croatia” covers the 17th and 18th centuries, i.e. Catholic renewal as well as the renewal of Croatia, said Prof. Marković, while the fifth category, “Approaching Our Times,” encompasses the 19th and 20th centuries. The sixth and final category is devoted to folk religiosity. In addition to literary works, Church publications, miniatures, sculptures, paintings and works in precious metals, the musical heritage of the Croats will also be presented at the exhibition. The concept and content of the exhibition were developed by approximately twenty authors. Speaking about the setting up of the exhibition in the hall of Pope Sixtus V in the Vatican Library Museum, the architect Branko Silađin, remembered particularly for his excellent solution to the presentation of the Republic of Croatia at Expo in Portugal, said that this work was “exceptionally demanding,” since it involved correspondence between the exhibits and the existing architectural and artistic works in the hall. On this occasion, journalists were presented with a computer simulation of the exhibition. For the exhibition Croats — Christianity, Culture and Art, very strict criteria were applied. Due to the impossibility of presenting all the most valuable works of art (of which some such as Radovan’s portal could not exhibited in the original), as pointed out by Dr. Ivo Fisković, these works of art will be included in a detailed catalogue, from which a computer print-out was shown to journalists. A question from an IKA journalist about whether the fact that the exhibition is being held during the Great Jubilee in the Vatican is connected with an intention by the Vatican to use the example of a small Christian country to demonstrate the significance of Christianity to Europe, a topic being particularly discussed during the Second Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops, did not receive a response. To the criticism that not a single example of Glagolitic epigraphy was included in the exhibition, the response was that examples are included in the catalogue and that the famous Baška Stone Tablet is not representative. The exhibition, presently under the leadership of the technical coordinator, Prof. Miljenko Domijan, is being set up in the hall of Pope Sixtus V, at the initiative presented in 1994 by the late Dr. Anton Bevin, former rector of the Croatian Institute of St. Jerome in Rome, and Prof. Ivo Livjanić, former ambassador of the Republic of Croatia to the Holy See. It is being organized by the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, with the wholehearted approbation and support of the State Secretariat of the Holy See and the Vatican Library.