ZAGREB, March 30, 2019 - A two-day international scientific conference entitled Religion and Nation opened at the Islamic Centre in Zagreb on Friday.
The conference was attended by senior religious figures, including the head of the Islamic community in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Reis-ul-ulema Husein Kavazović, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, the Serb Orthodox Metropolitan of Zagreb and Ljubljana, Porfirije Perić, and the Chief Rabbi for Croatia and Montenegro of the Jewish community of Zagreb, Luciano Moše Prelević.
Reis-ul-ulema Kavazaović said in his opening remarks that "worshipping the nation ends up in a dead end" and that "man, being God's creation, can only realise himself in God."
The head of the Islamic community in Croatia, Mufti Aziz Hasanović, said that Islam gives priority to the faith without neglecting the nation, but is against nationalism because it excludes religious and humanist values.
Cardinal Bozanić highlighted the importance of social studies of relations between religion and the nation in Croatia and neighbouring countries which had experienced various forms of totalitarianism in the last century, noting that this should be done with due consideration and respect for the other.
Asim Kurjak, a member of the Scientific Committee, said that the main message of the conference should be that disputes between science and religion should be confined to the past because in that case it would be easier to deal with controversies between them.
More news on the religion issues can be found in the Politics section.
