CHURCH HAS ALWAYS BEEN SENSITIVE OF CULTURAL VALUES - POPE

( Editorial: --> 5429 ) ZAGREB, Oct 3 (Hina) - Pope John Paul II on Saturday night met representatives of Croatia's cultural, scientific, educational and media fields. Advisor at the Holy See's State Secretariat, Martin Vidovic, read the Pope's message to some twenty representatives of cultural and scientific institutions. In the message, the Holy Father expresses respect for the rich cultural heritage of the Croatian people. He also stressed that it was necessary to continue the joint endeavours in culture, and at the same time to cultivate respect and reconciliation. This, however, does not mean the abandoning of one's own identity and culture, the message said. The Pope added that "the task of the Christian in fact is to spread the light of the Gospel throughout society, and hence also in the world of culture". A culture which dismisses God cannot be called entirely human, and today's ethical relativism, "obscuring as it does moral values, leads to modes of behaviour which destroy the dignity of the person. This in turn creates serious problems for truly human development in every aspect of life," the message said. The Church, the Holy Father stressed, has always been highly sensitive to cultural values and research. "This is what we see in your own history: when in the 7th century your ancestors were baptised and entered the Church, they became at the same time part of the world of Western culture," the message stressed. The Pope's message added that since that time, Croatia has continued to experience progress in culture and learning, to which the Church has given its decisive support. Croatian Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic thanked the Holy Father for his message, for everything he had done for the Croatian people, state, culture and all four million Croatians around the world. "During fourteen long centuries, the Croatian people have maintained two important guidelines - faith and culture. Although there have been rough moments in our history, we have remained loyal until this day when we have our own state. "Thanks to that fact, we Croatians can today freely cultivate and promote our culture and cultural heritage, and express our religious affiliation," Biskupic said. Biskupic presented Pope John Paul II a reprint of the Gazophylacium dictionary, a Latin-Croatian and Croatian-Latin dictionary, compiled by Ivan Belostenec in the 17th century. The dictionary is a reflection of the high cultural, scientific and printing achievement of the time, Biskupic said. Thanking Biskupic for the gift, the Holy Father said that the richness flourishing in culture can be compared to nature which, together with culture, marks man. The Pope handed to those present silver papal medals and the text of the Pope's message. Also present at the meeting were the Apostolic Nuncio in Croatia, Monsignor Giulio Einaudi, Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic and Cardinal Franjo Kuharic. (hina) lml /mbr 032312 MET oct 98