CROATIAN BISHOPS' CONFERENCE ENDS SESSION IN POZEGA

POZEGA, Oct 18 (Hina) - The solution of the current situation in the Church and society, i.e., in the relations between the Catholic Church in Croatia and the authorities, requires finding a better form of communication, it was said at Thursday's news conference in the eastern town of Pozega, where the 23rd plenary session of the Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK) was held. Croatian bishops decided that the HBK Council should be in charge of contacts with the authorities and the Commission for Relations with the State should deal with specific issues concerning the implementation of contracts between Croatia and the Holy See, i.e., the Catholic Church in Croatia. Apart from cooperation with the authorities, the bishops also discussed the situation in the media, expressing their dissatisfaction with the television coverage of church activities, it was said at the news conference. The bishops appointed HBK's secretary-general Msgr. Vjekoslav Huzjak HBK's spokesman. The Church is currently forming a press office to ensure better communication with the public. Asked about media claims about a Zagreb meeting between Archbishop Tauran, the Holy See's secretary for relations with states, and EU ambassadors, at which the foreign ambassadors reportedly warned the Vatican official about the unacceptable conduct of some bishops towards the current authorities in Croatia, the bishops said the Pozega conference did not tackle that problem because Tauran had not informed them about it. (hina) sb rml