THREE CHURCH-STATE ACCORDS BETWEEN HOLY SEE, CROATIA

VATICAN CITY, DEC 19, 1996 (VIS) - Today at noon in Zagreb, the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia signed three Accords concerning, respectively, juridical questions, collaboration in the educational and cultural fields and religious assistance to the Catholic faithful, members of the armed forces and the police.

Signing for the Holy See, according to a communique released today, was "Archbishop Giulio Einaudi, apostolic nuncio in Zagreb, and for Croatia Jure Radic, vice prime minister and head of the government commission for negotiations with the Holy See." Attending the ceremony in the presidential palace were President Franjo Tudjman and other persons of the political, social and cultural worlds, including Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, archbishop of Zagreb.

"The Accords," says the communique, "reaffirm that the State and the Church are, each in their own order, independent and autonomous, and commit themselves to the full respect of such a principle in mutual relations and in reciprocal collaboration for the integral spiritual and material development of man and for the promotion of the common good."

It points out that "the State guarantees the Church the free exercise of her apostolic mission, in particular what concerns divine worship, the governing, teaching and activity of Catholic associations. Civil effects are attributed to canonical marriages."

The communique affirms that the Church has the right to care for its faithful who are in prisons, hospitals and other health care institutes or orphanages and has the right to organize charity or welfare activities. Catholic schools are "substantially ('praticamente') equal to public ones in rights and duties." Lastly, it says, "a military ordinariate is scheduled to be erected to guarantee adequate religious assistance to the Catholic faithful who are members of the armed forces and the police."
OP/ACCORDS CROATIA/EINAUDI:KUHARIC VIS 961219 (300)