ZAGREB ARCHBISHOP FORWARDS CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

ZAGREB, Dec 24 (Hina) - The Archbishop of Zagreb and president of the Croatian Bishops Conference, Josip Bozanic, on Tuesday evening forwarded his Christmas message via Croatian Radio-Television, wishing all a joyful Christmas. #L# Reminding that on Christmas Eve the Church conveyed the angelic message of Christ's birth, the Zagreb Archbishop said the message of consolation would lead us to Bethlehem. Christ's birth brings into the world real peace which permeates the history of mankind, he said. "Every human heart needs peace which is the source of joy. Man knows now at last where to look for and find peace - on the way to Bethlehem, in union with Jesus the Saviour. People are born in different places. But it is only in Bethlehem that every man is renewed. We are reborn as new beings through the power of Bethlehem," Bozanic said. The search for Christ and peace and joy takes courage and the determination to abandon other paths - the paths of sin, Bozanic said. "One should abandon the path of the arrogant who reject the law God inscribed in the human heart; the path of the conceited who believe they are the only and highest law in their lives; the path of the thoughtless who selfishly lift themselves above others by underestimating and threatening other people's dignity, primarily that of the weak and unprotected ones," he said. Every man can count on the gift of transformation if he opens his soul to the Lord humbly and with confidence and changes his heart and life, the archbishop said, wishing all a joyous Christmas. (hina) rml