POPE FORQWARDS MESSAGE TO CROATIANS

( Editorial: --> 6932 ) ROME, April 15 (Hina) - Firm faith and the cultivation of Christian values are necessary in order to materially and spiritually reconstruct the war-ravaged Croatia, Pope John Paul II told about 2,500 Croatian pilgrims at an audience on Wednesday. "Return to your homes firm in faith, prepare yourselves to cross the threshold of the third Christian millennium and pass on Christian values, which is crucial for the material and spiritual reconstruction of your homeland which had suffered long decades of dictatorship, and then a ravaging war," the Pope said. From the 2,500 pilgrims from all over Croatia, most of them arrived from Pozega, headed by Bishop Antun Skvorcevic. They left for Rome on the occasion of the first anniversary of the establishment of the Pozega Bishopric. A group of Croatian business people presented Pope John Paul II with Zeljko Lesar's painting entitled "Dubrovnik", a Croatian bishopric celebrating its one thousandth birthday this year. (hina) lm 151744 MET apr 98