ZAGREB'S ARCHBISHOP DEALS OUT HOLY SEE MEDALS

( Editorial: --> 7578 ) ZAGREB, Oct 11 (Hina) - After having held a mass to give thanks for the Pope's pilgrimage to Croatia and the beatification of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, Zagreb's Archbishop Josip Bozanic handed out medals to all those who helped the preparations for Pope John Paul II's visit earlier this month. Monsignor Bozanic handed medals and a special edition of the Vatican's daily L'Osservatore on the Pope's visit to Croatia to members of the State and Church welcoming committees. The medals were made by the Holy See during the Pope's pilgrimage. One side of it has the image and name of Pope John Paul II engraved in it, and the other an engraved image of the event with the writing "Croatia-Zagreb-Marija Bistrica-Split- 2-4 X 1998". Bozanic also handed to the Marija Bistrica Bishop, Monsignor Lovro Cindorij, a gilded rosary, present from the Holy Father to the Croatian national Marian shrine in Marija Bistrica, near Zagreb. On behalf of the State Welcoming Committee, head of the State Commission for Relations with religious Communities, Jure Radic, thanked Bozanic for the medals. Pope John Paul II visited Croatia from October 2 to 4. He visited the Croatian coastal town of Split, Zagreb and Marija Bistrica, where he beatified the late Croatian Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac at a Eucharist celebration. (hina) lml 111827 MET oct 98