The Synod of Bishops on the family, the new pastoral priorities and a message about the gender theory. These were the main topics of the Plenary Assembly of the Croatian Bishops, which met in Zagreb, Croatia. The President of the Episcopal Conference, Msgr. Želimir Puljic, introduced the working session, at which the papal nuncio in Croatia, Archbishop Alessandro D'Errico, was also present. In his opening speech, Archbishop Puljic mentioned, among other things, two important anniversaries celebrated this year: the centenary of the beginning of the 1st World War and the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of St. Benedict "Patron of Europe".
The Assembly also reflected on the preparation of the second national meeting of Croatian families scheduled for April 19th, 2015, at the Shrine of Our Lady of Trsat in Rjieka. The theme chosen for this second encounter, which will be preceded by a prayer vigil on April 18th, is "The Family, the bearer of life, hope and future of Croatia". With respect to the pastoral priorities of the Church of Croatia in the near future, and in the light of the fruitful experience of the 1984 National Eucharistic Congress, the importance of making strategic decisions to address current pastoral challenges in the country was stressed.
Finally, the Croatian Episcopate has published a document entitled "Male and Female God Created Them", in which it warns the faithful about the gender ideology, which calls into question the factual nature of sexuality, disassociating the biological sex from its cultural dimension. "The best response to this challenge—underlined the Croatian Bishops—is the authentic proclamation of the Gospel and its daily testimony."
