MARIJA BISTRICA MARIJA BISTRICA, Aug 30 (Hina) - Around 7,000 believers from Croatia and Slovenia, headed by Ljubljana Archbishop Franc Rode and Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, gathered in the Croatian Marian shrine of Marija
Bistrica on Saturday at a meeting which is part of preparations to mark Central European Catholic Day.
MARIJA BISTRICA, Aug 30 (Hina) - Around 7,000 believers from
Croatia and Slovenia, headed by Ljubljana Archbishop Franc Rode and
Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, gathered in the Croatian Marian
shrine of Marija Bistrica on Saturday at a meeting which is part of
preparations to mark Central European Catholic Day. #L#
Greeting Slovene believers, bishops and priests who gathered at the
open-air Church of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, Archbishop
Bozanic said that the pilgrims were meeting as members of the
Catholic Church, which had made a deep impact on the identities of
both nations.
Archbishop Rode celebrated the Eucharist, stating in his sermon
that the purpose of today's gathering was to bring the two peoples
closer to one another and deepen their friendship.
The sermon was also attended by Croatian Vice-Premier Goran Granic,
who told reporters the gathering showed that problems between the
two peoples should be solved at meetings and not by diplomatic
notes, as well as that they were still motivated by political rather
than reasons of content.
The pilgrimage is part of preparations for Central European
Catholic Day, to be held in Austria's Mariazell on 22 May 2004.
(hina) rml