ZAGREB ARCHBISHOP RELEASES CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

ZAGREB, Dec 19 (Hina) - The primate of the Catholic Church in Croatia, Archbishop of Zagreb Josip Bozanic, on Tuesday released a Christmas message pointing out that to govern did not mean to rise above the people and exhaust oneself in competition. "Authority either serves the people or is deviation. Those entrusted with authority have a big responsibility. It is up to them... to seek and find fair and the best possible solutions which will provide the conditions required to develop all parts of society, especially those solutions which can be carried out without delay," the message said, adding misfortune of anybody must not be belittled or care for any age or social groups withheld. It is particularly unacceptable to obfuscate the real motives behind certain actions or the failure to carry them out, and divert the public's attention to contents which do not contribute to the building of genuine values, the message said. All have a common responsibility to preserve and nurture the fundamental moral tenets, which is one of the important missions of the Church, but also one of the key tasks of the secular authority, Archbishop Bozanic said. "Various attempts to make the basic human and national values relative are unacceptable." He pointed out that many among us stood before closed doors, in the family, in front of our own but unavailable home, in front of factories and companies, in front of various institutions. The first step Christmas invites us to make is to return to so- called natural virtues, like solidarity with the poor, integrity against any form of bribery, the respect and love of life from conception to natural death, said the message. The archbishop pointed to the disrupted trust within Croatian society. "Without trust, without the willingness to recognise and support the good in others, individual or group, there is no progress. The common good seeks the broadest harmonisation on common interests, which must not be subjected to individual or group ones." Raising the question if today we should again learn about persistence and patience in effort, Bozanic stressed that the recovery from the difficult economic situation called for both effort and sacrifice which, he said, should be divided equally, protecting the poorest. (hina) ha