RIJEKA: ORGANISATION OF POPE'S VISIT WAS AT HIGH LEVEL

RIJEKA, June 10 (Hina) - Speaking at a press conference he held on Tuesday with the mayor of Rijeka and the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County prefect, Rijeka Archbishop Ivan Devcic said all the investments made to organise Pope John Paul II's pastoral visit to Croatia would return manifold thanks to the country's promotion during the visit. #L# Pointing out the high level of the organisation of the visit, Archbishop Devcic quoted people from the Pope's entourage as saying the Pope's 100th travel abroad could not have been organised better anywhere else. Devcic said the visit offered a good opportunity "to show the world that we are not Xenophobic or nationalists". Primorje-Gorski Kotar County prefect Zlatko Komadina said the Pope's visit showed the unity of all in the wider Rijeka region regardless of their confession or beliefs. He assessed the Pope's visit as an historic event. Rijeka's mayor Vojko Obersnel said the Pope's choosing Rijeka as his "base" during his four-day visit was a symbolic act, as Rijeka was "a city of tolerance and understanding, which has traditionally cherished the most important postulates of the Pope's messages". Archbishop Devcic said Rijeka Archdiocese intended to name its seminary after Pope John Paul II and had submitted a formal request to that effect to the Vatican. Mayor Obersnel welcomed the proposal that Tizian Street, which the Pope passed daily on his way to and from the seminary, should be renamed to John Paul II Street. After the Holy Father's message about ecumenism, those opposing the construction of a mosque in Rijeka will be left with less arguments, he added. (hina) sp rml sb