ZAGREB, 15 August, 2022 - The Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, said on Monday the Christian vision of existence was in jeopardy and called for defending the family as society's greatest good.
Celebrating Assumption Day mass at the Marija Bistrica national Marian shrine, he said the Assumption of Mary was deeply rooted among Croatia's believers and that the Christian vision of existence "is in jeopardy and under attack from ideologies whose intention is to condition society and the human person."
Bozanić said that last month in Canada, Pope Francis pointed to the danger of ideological colonisation which was contrary to life's reality and which tried to eradicate tradition, history, and religious ties.
"In other countries, speaking of the family's beauties, Pope Francis called on us to resist theories which try to impose so-called other forms of family and a different way of looking at man, considering that his original diversity manifests him as man or woman. As Pope Francis says, a war is being waged not with weapons but with ideological colonisation which wants to destroy marriage and the family," the cardinal said.
Today's celebration calls on us to be a society open to children, he said, adding that there are positive initiatives on that front, but also "arrogant and inhuman decisions and actions by those who belittle children's real needs and don't protect human life from conception to natural death."
Bozanić called for praying in particular for expecting parents as well as for peace in war-torn Ukraine.
Minister talks inflation, energy supply
The service was attended by War Veterans Minister Tomo Medved, who, commenting on inflation and energy supply difficulties, told the press the government was dealing with those challenges successfully, as it had with the pandemic.
"The government recognises those risks and the challenges we are facing or will face, and we are running the state responsibly," he added.
The Assumption of Mary is a public holiday when believers across Croatia visit Marian shrines.
