CRO OFFICIALS THANK CARDINAL KUHARIC AND NEW ZAGREB ARCHBISHOP BOZANIC

BOZANIC $ ZAGREB, Oct 4 (Hina) - After the ceremony of installing Msgr. Josip Bozanic as the Archbishop of Zagreb in the Cathedral, a dinner was held on this occasion for Croatian Roman Catholic bishops and guests. At the dinner religious dignitaries and representatives of Croatian authorities thanked the former Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, and his successor, Msgr. Josip Bozanic. On behalf of the Croatian Government, a Deputy Prime Minister Jure Radic, who is also in charge of relations with religious communities, expressed gratitude to Kuharic and Bozanic. In his speech Radic pointed to the role of Cardinal Kuharic during the hard times which the Roman Catholic Church in the country had experienced in the former regime. Radic described those times as a period of persecution. Radic added that Cardinal Kuharic had played a great role during the Homeland War when he helped his people. According to Radic, Kuharic will continue to help them as all of citizens must work at that each displaced person can return to their own homes. The Croatian official thanked Cardinal Kuharic for his contribution to establishing good ties between the Church and the State. Radic added that the retired Archbishop of Zagreb had always defended principles of the truth and thus earned the reputation among the Croatian people. On behalf of Croatian Parliament, its President Vlatko Pavletic thanked Cardinal Kuharic. Pavletic spoke of the fifty years of Kuharic's priesthood and of almost thirty years of his post as the Archbishop of Zagreb. He said that the Cardinal's work was imbued by his patriotism and added that during the aggression against Croatia Cardinal Kuharic offered words of comfort to the faithful and toured all places in Croatia to gather believers. Pavletic also said that Kuharic who contributed to setting up good relations between the Church and the State and to improving relations with the international community would have a special place in the history of Church in the Croatian people. Pavletic also addressed the newly-installed Archbishop of Zagreb, Msgr. Josip Bozanic, and welcomed him at the post of the Archbishop of Zagreb. The Parliament President said that the role of the new Archbishop would be much easier than roles of his predecessors, as his duty of the leader of the Zagreb Archdiocese could be performed in the time of good relations between the Church and the State. Pavletic offered Bozanic continuation of good cooperation between the Church and State. At the end Archbishop Bozanic thanked those who had prepared the ceremony on occasion of this important event in the history of the Roman Catholic Church in Zagreb and Croatia. (hina) mš 042013 MET oct 97