MOSTAR DIOCESE ORDINARIATE DISMISSES DAILY'S REPORT

MOSTAR, Aug 30 (Hina) - The diocesan ordinariate in Mostar has dismissed a report by the Croatian daily "Slobodna Dalmacija" that Mostar-Duvno bishop Ratko Peric had requested the diocesan clergy to name as traitors, from their pulpits, supporters of the unification of the city's Croat and Bosniak high schools. #L# The ordinariate warned that attempts to eradicate the Croatian language in schools were tantamount to "spiritual genocide". "We state that the bishop did not invite anyone to a meeting about the school system, neither did he warn leaders that they would be named traitors of the Croat people from the pulpit," reads a statement issued by the Mostar-Duvno diocesan ordinariate. The ordinariate claims that the reform of the education system in the country, implemented by the OSCE Mission, is aimed at eradicating the Croatian language. The ordinariate "welcomes sensible social and educational methods" promoting the cultural, religious and ethnic spirit and enabling Croat children to have classes in Croatian, and condemns all forcible measures which encroach on a people's identity. The ordinariate was alluding to the OSCE's initiative to have Croat and Muslim students in said high schools attend together classes in five subjects in two languages, following the schools' unification. The ordinariate urges a consensus on "this vital issue" for the Croat people, "based not on extorted political signatures, but on a referendum". (hina) rml