PRESIDENT TUDJMAN'S WELCOME ADDRESS TO POPE JOHN PAUL II

( Editorial: --> 5108 ) ZAGREB, Oct 2 (Hina) - Croatian President Franjo Tudjman on Friday welcomed Pope John Paul II to Croatia for his second visit to the country. At Zagreb Airport President Tudjman delivered a welcome address to the Holy Father, which read as follows: Holy Father, With fresh memories of your historic first arrival in Croatia in September 1994, the Croatian people again welcome you with an open heart, with gratitude for the understanding and support shown so far, and with the hope that your messages on the occasion of this State and Pastoral Visit will again strengthen our faith into the irreplaceability of the Christian vision for the future in the present-day world. With your second arrival in Croatia in four years you are demonstrating the particular concern of the Holy See for the Croatian people who have for centuries remained true to the principles of Catholic faith and the laws of the Church. This visit, Holy Father, has a special historic importance for the Church in Croatia, for the entire Croatian people and the Croatian State, because of the beatification of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, a martyr of the Church and one of the greatest Croatian ecclesiastical dignitaries. Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac was a model of profound faith, of love of man, of selfless dedication to his Church as well as to his Croatian people. He was personally the victim of two major ideologies of the first half of the 20th century - Nazism and Communism, godless ideologies that fought for the body and soul of European people and nations. Because of the determination he showed in saving the persecuted, whether Croats, Serbs or Jews, he was threatened by the quisling government of the NDH. And because of his unswerving faithfulness to the Catholic Church and to the community of Croatian Catholics with Peter's heir, he was condemned by the Communist authorities and incurred mortal danger. Today, by decision of the Holy See, he meets the eyes of all humankind as a martyr of a clear conscience and a true witness of the faith. He was the shepherd of his people, and his credo and devotion to the Croatian people were best summarised in his own words: "I would have been a villain had I not stood by my own people, who prebiscitarily opted for their own state." The beatification of Stepinac pays tribute to truth and to his sacrifice before history but also before the present, because the forces which would wish to impose on the Croatian people, the Catholic Church and this democratic Croatia the blame for fascist sins and crimes, which the Croatian people and State have always denounced, are still present on the scene. The elevation of the leading person of the Catholic Church in Croatia in the period of the Second World War to the Altar of the Blessed also pays tribute to all the victims and martyrs of both the fascist and the Communist regime. Those that one-sidedly condemn the Croatian people forget that the pro-fascist regime was imposed on Croatia just as it was imposed on all other European countries, and that Croatia had a stronger anti- fascist movement than other European countries. They also forget the fact that today Croatia is building a democratic social order. With your visit to Croatia in 1994 you enhanced the celebration of the 900th anniversary of the Zagreb Archdiocese. On this occasion, in addition to the beatification of Cardinal Stepinac, you will honour the unique celebration of the 1700th anniversary of Split, of the Solin church and of the Split Archdiocese which as the oldest on Croatian soil, played a special role in the conversion of the Croats to Christianity, in the establishment of the Church and generally in the life of the ancient Croatian State. Holy Father, Over the short period since your last visit to Croatia we have achieved our loftiest goal - we have restored to the Croatian State all her occupied regions which had bled under the Yugo-Communist and Serbian aggression and occupation together with the symbol of our suffering, Vukovar. We have been able to return hundreds of thousands of displaced persons to their homes, to rebuild many destroyed settlements and churches, thus providing for the revival of overall life, religious life included. In your addresses during your last visit you urged us to promote the culture of peace which implies the fostering of tolerance and solidarity, and of the Christian need to offer the hand of pardon to one's enemies as well. Guided by such a policy, and after we liberated most of our occupied regions thanks to the unity of the Croatian people and the force of Croatian arms, we also paved for the international community the way to the peace agreements in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and for the peaceful reintegration of the Croatian Danubian Region, which was accomplished successfully through the cooperation of Croatian authorities and the international community. It was Croatia's peaceful policy that made possible the successful completion of the UN peace mission. The Croatian people have been able to achieve their millennial dream about the resurrection of the independent Croatian State in full unity with their Catholic Church. Now the Croatian people are turned to new peace-time challenges and tasks because they want to build their homeland as an independent and free, and a stable and prosperous social State. On that road, Holy Father, grant us your blessing, too! Many still ignore or forget the fact that the Croatian people are one of the oldest European peoples, that they were the first of all the Slav peoples to accept Christianity, and that they had for centuries staunchly defended Catholicism and struggled for their own survival. They forget that the Croatian people, together with other peoples, gave Europe part of their own identity, and contributed to the development of Christianity and present-day Western civilisation. The Croatian people are proud of their accomplishments in the realisation of a stable democratic and economic order. Proceeding from such foundations, the Croatian State leadership, and I personally as Head of State, will continue to pursue the road to further building of the democratic order based on the principles of respect and fostering of general human values of Christian civilisation. Holy Father, For several years Croatia has been involved in resolving the return of Croatian displaced persons, and Serbian refugees, i.e., in taking care of all those who suffered during the Yugo-Communist aggression and the Homeland War. The reconstruction of destroyed homes, and cultural and religious buildings remains a political priority, and a very complex and protracted task in economic and humanitarian terms. We are engaged in this effort mainly with our own resources but without an adequate financial support, all the displaced persons and sufferers will not be able to return to their homes, and even less enjoy conditions for normal living. Aware of how much the Holy See is concerned for the solution of pressing humanitarian issues, we hope that it will be able to urge the international community to provide more efficient assistance. One of the essential long-term tasks facing Croatian society as a whole is the achievement of moral and spiritual revival in terms of release from the negative Communist heritage but also in terms of preventing the proliferation of negative manifestations present in modern civilisation. In the economic field, we want to improve the standard of living of our people, and offer them occupational and social security by harnessing all the economic and natural resources and potentials of the country. The Government of democratic Croatia will continue to pursue the efforts focused on improving the position and income of those social categories, primarily retired persons, whose life has particularly been affected by war circumstances, but also by the economic changes brought about by the transition from the Communist to the free market system. In the new geopolitical circumstances, we want to develop normal relations and cooperation with all neighbouring states, based on the principles of equality and mutual respect. As a Mediterranean and Central European country, heir to Western Christian civilisation to which it has also provided a notable contribution, Croatia sees her future in association with countries to which it belongs in historical and cultural terms. Therefore, the Croatian people and the present state leadership of Croatia are determined in preventing any repetition of fateful historical mistakes, and all intentions and schemes about the association of Croatia with new Balkan or South-East integrations. Holy Father, You have also repeatedly warned the world about the tragedy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and pleaded for the war and killing to stop. You have also been concerned for the destiny of the Croatian people in that country, the people which, being numerically the smallest, have also been the most threatened, and which drew, throughout its long history, their spiritual strength from the Catholic faith. The same concern, but also state-national interest, determine Croatian policy with respect to Bosnia and Herzegovina, in which civilisational differences and specific national features, the appearance of expansionism and fundamentalism, and the different strategic interests of international forces, combine to form the still most complex global crisis. Croatia will continue to pursue its constructive policy. It has already demonstrated that it is a cardinal factor in the implementation of the Washington and Dayton Peace Accords; it is also bound, by her Constitution and by her signature of these peace accords, to safeguard the rights of the Croatian people. Along this road, the will of the Croatian people, manifested strongly and clearly at the recent September elections, is a message to all who would want to question their equality and constituent character and normal ties between the Federation and Croatia. Holy Father, The Catholic faith is historically profound and steady among the Croats. The current government of democratic Croatia wants and endeavours to build a social and state life based on the principles of Christian civilisation. It is precisely because of this that certain international factors are pressuring us, and imposing certain commitments which neither match the present moment in history nor have other countries faced them, and not only those which have embarked on developing a democratic system after the collapse of Communism. We cannot help feeling that such an attitude with respect to Croatia is the continuation of that policy which wanted to preserve the Yugoslavia created at Versailles, which was for the Croatian people a prison, as Cardinal Stepinac also rightly claimed. The pressures on Croatia also reflect views disapproving the establishment of the Croatian State, and even the unwillingness of some to recognise reality - the disintegration of the former Yugoslav community. Moreover, the Croatian public also partly experienced such unjust pressures as an expression of the disfavour with which some factors in the world view the firm ties between the Holy See and Croatia. I am confident that - with our own resources, with God's help and with the understanding of reasonable international factors - we will withstand all difficulties and preserve our faith, national freedom and the established sovereignty of our democratic homeland. Along with the feelings of gratitude to the Almighty for making the continuance of the Croatian people possible, and for having granted us your two pastoral and State visits, we would in particular want to express our gratitude to you for having been with us in this crucial time of resurrection of Croatian freedom and State sovereignty. Together with all the people of good will we are looking forward to the great jubilee, the two thousand years of Christianity, firmly hopeful of the preservation of the lasting value of the great ideals which you uphold as the apostle of peace and the moral authority of the present-day world. Holy Father, Present-day Croatia and the majority of its people will follow you on the road upholding the full respect of the freedom and dignity of man and equality of peoples, on the arduous road to the building of peace and prevention of all evils and injustices in social and international life! (Hina) mbr rml 021856 MET oct 98