(Foto sito Conferenza episcopale croata)

Yesterday, the members of the Permanent Council of the Episcopal Conference of Croatia, led by their President Drazen Kutlesa, met the Prime Minister of the Balkan country Andrej Plenkovic and a few Government officials as part of an ongoing dialogue between the Catholic Church in Croatia and the Government officials. During the talks, they expressed mutual satisfaction at the excellent relationships between the two institutions, and the productive dialogue so far established on multiple issues of common interest. The Croatian Bishops lingered on the additional activities that concern the completion of the reconstruction of religious buildings after the powerful earthquake of December 2020 near Zagreb. The reconstruction works are moving on fast – as reported by the Press Office of the Episcopal Conference of Croatia – and are paid for out of the Government budget and European funds. The Government officials presented the new measures taken by the executive branch to reverse the negative demographic trends and to strengthen families as the core of Croatian society, as well as other activities aiming to improve the citizens’ standard of living. The Bishops discussed the improvement of the legal framework for the operation of Catholic educational institutions as well as the funding of Catholic schools under the Agreement between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia for cooperation in education and culture. They also talked about the status of Catholic healthcare institutions that – as the release specifies – need an executive agreement to legally regulate their status, especially the “Hospital St Raphael” in Strmac, specialising in psychiatry and palliative care.