ZAGREB ARCHBISHOP DISCUSSES 'LASIC CASE' WITH HEAD OF DOMINICANS

ZAGREB, Feb 1 (Hina/IKA) - The head of the Catholic Church in Croatia, Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, on Saturday held talks with the head of the Dominican order in Croatia, Marinko Zadro, regarding the case of a Dominican priest Vjekoslav Lasic, the Croatian Catholic agency IKA reported on Monday. At the end of December last year, Lasic served mass commemorating the 39th anniversary of the death of Ante Pavelic, head of the Ustasha-run Independent State of Croatia (NDH, 1941-1945). This was followed by a letter sent to Archbishop Bozanic by the director of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre in Jerusalem, Efraim Zuroff, who protested against Lasic's sermon. The supreme head of the Dominican order, Timothy Radcliffe, also reacted to the incident. According to IKA, Bozanic and Zadro discussed measures to be taken regarding Radcliff's request that similar cases be prevented. Asked by Hina to reveal the details of his talks with Bozanic, Zadro said they had agreed not to disclose any information for the time being, in order to avoid stirring up high feelings. (hina) rml