ANTIFASCIST FEDERATION AGAINST NAME OF CHURCH AT UDBINA

ZAGREB, Sept 9 (Hina) - The Croatian Federation of Antifascist War Veterans (SABH) on Tuesday expressed its displeasure with the idea to name a Catholic church at Udbina (150 km south of Zagreb) the Church of Croatian Martyrs, saying that this would only create a new rift between religious and ethnic communities in the area. #L# A campaign was launched as part of festivities marking the 510th anniversary of the Battle of Krbava today to build the Church of Croatian Martyrs in memory of those killed in the 1493 battle against Ottoman Turks. The project is co-sponsored by the Croatian parliament and the Croatian Bishops Conference. The SABH is not opposed to the construction of the church, but to its name, because it will "create new rifts in an area with a sensitive ethnic and religious structure," SABH president Ivan Fumic told a press conference. It is a historical truth that not only Croats, but also members of other ethnic and religious communities were killed on both Croatian and Turkish sides in the battle of Krbava, he added. An incomparably larger number of people were killed in the Udbina area in World War Two, so any church built in honour of martyrs should also give credit to them and bear a name honouring members of all ethnic and religious communities, Fumic said. The SABH proposed reconstruction of the Church of St Nicholas, which was destroyed during the Second World War and on whose site the new church is to be erected. Fumic said that the initiative to build a church of Croatian martyrs was contrary to the words of Pope John Paul II, who had appealed for reconciliation and solidarity and against hatred, racism and xenophobia during his last visit to Croatia. Fumic called on President Stjepan Mesic and Prime Minister Ivica Racan to oppose the initiative, because it undermined relations between religious communities and damaged Croatia's reputation in its efforts to join the European Union. (hina) vm