PREPARATIONS FOR POPE'S VISIT HAVE BEGUN

( Editorial: --> 7485 ) ZAGREB, May 29 (Hina) - The state committee in charge of preparing the Pope's visit to Croatia held its first session in Zagreb Friday, under the chairmanship of Reconstruction and Development Minister Jure Radic. Pope John Paul II will be in Croatia from October 2 to 4 this year. It was pointed out the forthcoming visit was a great gift to Croatia and an event which called for the best and a timely preparation. The state committee has for this reason already started with the preparations, which will be carried out in close cooperation with a similar Church committee. According to a statement from Radic's cabinet, today the committee determined the starting points and carriers of certain segments in the organisation of the visit. The statement recalls that the Pope will arrive in Croatia by plane in the afternoon of Friday, October 2. At a mass in Marija Bistrica the following day, the Holy Father will beatify Croatian cardinal Alozije Stepinac. The Pope will be received by the Croatian President in the afternoon. On Sunday, October 4, the Pope will celebrate mass in the southern port of Split, on the occasion of the town's 1,700th birthday. This will mark the end of the Pope's second visit to Croatia, the statement from Radic's cabinet said. (hina) ha 291332 MET may 98