ZAGREB, Feb 11 (Hina) - "Events from the past several months reveal the communist mentality has survived to the extent that the Church has to deal with such ideas again," the primate of the Croatian Catholic Church, Archbishop of
Zagreb Josip Bozanic said on Sunday evening at a mass marking the anniversary of the death of cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. "We thought some elementary ideas were clear and that those wishing to defend the value of the contemporary pluralist and democratic society would see that being against the Church brings into question plurality and denies some in Croatia their legitimate rights", he added. Archbishop Bozanic particularly warned about "the taking to task the Church has recently been subjected to". "Isn't it tasteless in this our Croatia to take the Church and Christianity to task, having in mind all that permeated and permeates the Croatian reality and stems from Christian and Cat
ZAGREB, Feb 11 (Hina) - "Events from the past several months reveal
the communist mentality has survived to the extent that the Church
has to deal with such ideas again," the primate of the Croatian
Catholic Church, Archbishop of Zagreb Josip Bozanic said on Sunday
evening at a mass marking the anniversary of the death of cardinal
Alojzije Stepinac.
"We thought some elementary ideas were clear and that those wishing
to defend the value of the contemporary pluralist and democratic
society would see that being against the Church brings into
question plurality and denies some in Croatia their legitimate
rights", he added.
Archbishop Bozanic particularly warned about "the taking to task
the Church has recently been subjected to".
"Isn't it tasteless in this our Croatia to take the Church and
Christianity to task, having in mind all that permeated and
permeates the Croatian reality and stems from Christian and
Catholic inspiration?", Bozanic asked at yesterday's ceremonious
mass.
He asserted "the rights of the faithful, parents and the Catholic
Church to take care of their children and youth and raise them in the
freedom of their beliefs are perfidiously contested."
"Is it tasteful to take the Church to task for its alleged wealth on
one hand and expect it to provide answers to society's questions and
difficulties in various areas on the other, while simultaneously
not doing enough to let it fully use all of its goods?", asked
Bozanic.
He added it was also tasteless to contest the beatified Alojzije
Stepinac who was "the voice of humanity's conscience while others
kept silent".
Stepinac's sacrifice was "the birth of a new light which did not
stop shining despite all the communist lies he had to listen to
while on trial and regardless of the blows he had to endure while
imprisoned", Bozanic said.
He recalled the faithful remembered very well the way in which the
Church had been pushed away from the public in communism, and that
they hoped something like this would not happen again. "When
attempts to regulate relations in society and the state are called
discrimination, or even segregation, then the faithful are
disturbed, but we can live with this as well", said Bozanic.
He added that rarely was a date as recognised and attractive as Feb.
10, which celebrates the Christian testimony by Alojzije Stepinac,
Croatian cardinal, martyr and Zagreb archbishop.
Sunday's mass at the Zagreb cathedral was attended by around 200
priests from Zagreb archdiocese, cardinal Franjo Kuharic,
apostolic nuncio Giulio Einaudi, military ordinary Juraj
Jezerinac, assistant Zagreb bishops Josip Mrzljak and Vlado Kosic,
and the Greek Catholic eparch, Slavomir Miklvos.
(hina) np/ha sb