Zagreb, (IKA) – The Fourth Inter-Religious Meeting of the High Officials of the Religious Communities in the Republic of Croatia was held on Thursday, July 17, on the premises of the Association of Baptist Churches in Zagreb. The participants included the president of the Council for Ecumenicism and Dialogue of the Croatian Conference of Catholic Bishops, Auxiliary Bishop Vlado Košić of Zagreb; representatives of the Association of Baptist Churches, Evangelical Church, Reformed Christian Church, Evangelist Church, Coordination of the Jewish Communities in the Republic of Croatia and the Meshihat of the Islamic Communities of the Republic of Croatia. Serbian Orthodox Metropolitan Jovan of Zagreb-Ljubljana and all of Italy sent a letter expressing his regrets and wished the participants successful work, according to a statement issued from the meeting.
The participants offered congratulations on the visit to Croatia by Pope John Paul II, which was visibly permeated with ecumenicism and the inter-religious spirit of cooperation and mutual respect, as well as the visit by the Israeli president Moshe Katsav and all the other events that contribute to the stabilization of the Croatian society and inter-religious understanding.
The signing of a contract between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the religious communities in the Republic of Croatia of the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Islamic community, the Evangelist Church, the Reformed Christian Church, the Evangelical Church, the Christian Adventist Church and the Association of Baptist Churches was cited as particularly significant. It is anticipated that questions regarding the contract between the Government of the Republic of Croatia and the Jewish Community will be suitably resolved.
The representatives of the religious communities support the campaign by Croatian Caritas to make it possible for workers employed in stores and other public institutions whose work is not essential for the functioning of the society to have a non-working day each week.
Regarding the places of crisis in the world such as Iraq, the high religious officials once again appealed for a peace-loving and just solution. Regarding the possibility of the eventual sending of Croatian soldiers to Iraq, they urged Croatia not to become involved in the conflict but to offer a consistently constructive contribution to establishing a peaceful and just world order.
Regarding the publicly discussed introduction of yoga into the Croatian educational system, the religious officials emphasized in the conclusion of their statement that those who are interested in yoga are able to practice it by participating in the suitable organizations and that the interests of individuals and the decisions of a narrow body regarding this question should not be imposed upon the general public against its will.