ZAGREB, July 23 (Hina) - The Croatian Bishops' Conference "Iustitia et pax" commission on Monday released a statement in connection with the current events in Croatia, thus sharing the concern of many citizens about the situation in
the country and responding to a call Croatian bishops made at their July 17 extraordinary meeting.
ZAGREB, July 23 (Hina) - The Croatian Bishops' Conference "Iustitia
et pax" commission on Monday released a statement in connection
with the current events in Croatia, thus sharing the concern of many
citizens about the situation in the country and responding to a call
Croatian bishops made at their July 17 extraordinary meeting.#L#
"Although the international recognition and inclusion in the most
important international organisations have made Croatia an equal
member of the community of world nations and states, and (although)
its sovereignty and independence are not directly brought into
question, some international factors find much that is
questionable in the stage of its (Croatia's) creation, making in
their statements even the state's independence and sovereignty
seem questionable," reads the statement.
It adds that even Croatia's political elite is divided as to
assessments of the path to independence "to the extent that we can
talk about two Croatias, i.e. two opposed views of one and the same
reality, about a rupture within the Croatian national body."
To weather the crisis it is necessary to prevent third-rank office
workers from making judgements that are capable of disturbing the
entire Croatian public, says the statement. "Each request by
international authorised bodies should contain clear points of
reference not only in international but Croatian law as well."
The statement mentions two recent indictments from UN's war-crimes
tribunal at The Hague, saying one gets the "impression there is a
collusion between some leaders from abroad and like-minded people
in Croatia" who are finding "new evidence against Croatia's
independence" in order to cause a "new political crisis and block
the free path to full sovereignty."
"Representatives of the elected authorities should resume
dialogue, on an equal basis, with representatives of the
international community, especially the Hague criminal tribunal,
and firmly defend the principles on which our state lies," reads the
statement.
"The wider world public must be sufficiently informed, and the
tribunal at The Hague get sufficiently convincing documents on the
causes and consequences, the aggressor and the victim of the
aggression on Croatia," it adds.
Calling for a national consensus on significant issues, the
statement says the incumbent ruling coalition should be open to the
former authorities in acknowledging their merit in the creation and
development of Croatia's independence. The statement also adds
that the parties of the so-called Croatian Bloc should be much more
tolerant towards the ruling coalition.
"Because in 1991 we all decided to be free and defended independent
Croatia," concludes the statement signed by the chairman of the
"Iustitia et pax" commission, Porec-Pula diocese bishop Ivan
Milovan.
The statement also says that the Catholic Church "must free itself
of its possessive love for Croatia (as) no one has the right to
appropriate what is common."
(hina) ha sb