BOZANIC REQUESTS THAT STATEMENTS FROM ZUROFF'S LETTER BE CHECKED

ZAGREB, Jan 1 (Hina) - The Archbishop of Zagreb, Msgr. Josip Bozanic, has sent a letter to the head of the Croatian Dominican province, Marinko Zadro, requesting him to check statements from the letter of the Israeli director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Dr. Efraim Zuroff, which Bozanic received on Thursday. According to Zuroff's letter, the Simon Wiesenthal Center learned that last week Friar Vjekoslav Lasic had conducted a mass in a Zagreb Catholic church to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the death of Ante Pavelic, the leader of the Ustasha movement, Considering atrocious crimes committed by Pavelic and the Ustasha regime in WW II, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre maintained that such services "are a mockery of the victims and an insult to the survivors, their families and friends and all those who opposed his brutal regime," read Zuroff's letter. Dr. Zuroff urged Msgr. Bozanic to "take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that such ceremonies will not be held in the churches" in Bozanic's jurisdiction and "to send a clear message to the public" that he does not approve of such activities. Therefore, Archbishop Bozanic asked Friar Zadro, who is the superior of Friar Lasic, to check allegations from Zuroff's letter and, in case it proves to be true, to take adequate measures and inform him about that. "As the case has acquired the international significance, I am obliged to inform the Master of your Order, Timothy Redcliffe, about this," Bozanic wrote to Zadro. (hina) ms