POZEGA, Sept 27 (Hina) - The Pozega diocese was established in the town of Pozega on Saturday and the first Bishop of Pozega, Antun Skvorcevic, was ordained. Performing the ordination were Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, the former
Arch-Bishop of Zagreb, the newly appointed Arch-Bishop of Zagreb, Josip Bozancic, and Apostolic Nuncio to Croatia, Giulio Einaudi.
POZEGA, Sept 27 (Hina) - The Pozega diocese was established in the
town of Pozega on Saturday and the first Bishop of Pozega, Antun
Skvorcevic, was ordained.
Performing the ordination were Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, the
former Arch-Bishop of Zagreb, the newly appointed Arch-Bishop of
Zagreb, Josip Bozancic, and Apostolic Nuncio to Croatia, Giulio
Einaudi. #L#
Secretary of the Zagreb Archbishopric, Stjepan Kozul, read the
Apostolic letter by which Pope John Paul II founded the Pozega
diocese on 5 July 1997. According to the Pope's decision, the new
diocese is a suffragan diocese of the Zagreb Archbishopric.
On behalf of the Holy Father, Msgr. Giulio Einaudi addressed
the gathered, saying that the Holy See, at the suggestion of the
Croatian Bishops' Conference, had reached the decision that two new
dioceses be established - Pozega and Varazdin dioceses - for better
and more successful pastoral work from the Zagreb Archbishopric.
Bishop Skvorcevic said he was proud that Pozega had obtained a
diocese this year - the year of preparations for the third
millennium - , and added that "here, faith never perished, despite
all the difficulties and troubles".
Present at the ceremony were representatives of other
religious communities, representatives of state and county
authorities, including Croatian Parliament Speaker Vlatko Pavletic,
president of the State Commission for Relations with Religious
Communities, Jure Radic, Culture Minister Bozo Biskupic, president
of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ivan Supek and
representatives of the Croatia, Pozega-Slavonia County and Pozega
cultural and public life.
(hina) lm
271738 MET sep 97