A strong “yes” to the family ” “

For Croatia – and not only for Croatia – December 1st will be recorded in history as a symbolic date. In fact, it’s the day of the first referendum of popular initiative through which 65.8% of voting citizens said “yes” to the question “Do you agree that an internal regulation establishing marriage as the union between a man and a woman be introduced within the Constitution of the Croatian Republic?” Despite the low turnout, only 36% of the 3.8 million eligible to vote (a percentage in line with other national elections), the definition will be inscribed in the Constitution, as the consultation did not provide for any form of quorum. With this result, “we definitely opened a new chapter in democratic Croatia and hope to continue in that direction”, Zeljka Marki, the leader of the movement “In the name of the family” told SIR. Croatia thus joins Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria, five EU countries that have an equal definition of marriage in their respective Constitutions. “Respecting popular will”. “Croatia’s respects the population’s decision”, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, Archbishop of Zagreb, told SIR, commenting on the outcome of the referendum of past Sunday. “I want to underline – the prelate said – that it’s very important to ask the population when it comes to decide on the various themes to be addressed at societal level”. Regarding this particular case, the cardinal pointed out: “It should be said that citizens spoke in favour of marriage and this should be respected”. In the Croatian Catholic community there is a lively debate aimed at analyzing the outcomes of the vote and repeatedly emerges the specific situation at national level and the emblematic message to Europe: “It’s our yes to the family and to the common good”. An “ecumenical” victory. The promoters and the volunteers of the initiative – marked by the outstanding contribution of many youths – have always said they were impressed by the decisions taken by another EU country, France, which past May had decided to legalize same-gender marriage. “In order to prevent the same situation from happening in Croatia”, “we launched a signature-collection”, explained coordinators at the general headquarters of “In the name of the Family” in Zagreb. The campaign was unexpectedly successful, and closed with 740 thousand endorsements, almost twice those required by law to hold a referendum. While the Croatian government has never concealed its opposition to this referendum, the movement could, however, count on the support of the Catholic Church in Croatia, the largest and most deeply rooted religious community, as well as on that of the Orthodox Church, the Muslim and Protestant communities, five parliamentary parties and fifteen groups not present in Parliament. Pope Francis, who also gave his support to the initiative, in the week previous to the popular consultation met a delegation from the association after Wednesday’s audience. Target reached. “We are pleased that people in Croatia have had the opportunity to cast their vote on an important issue such as marriage”, continued the leader of Zeljka Markic commenting on the definitive results. “We are grateful to all the volunteers committed over the past six months, and especially in the past month, during which the media and the government expressed their opposition to the referendum”. From now on “marriage will only be the union of a man and a woman. It will be enshrined and protected by the Constitution – Markic pointed out-. It was our target and we have reached it. Now we will reflect on what we have done and on what has happened”. “We expect that the will of the Croatian population will be respected and that concrete action will ensue”, concluded the leader of the movement. A government spokesperson, upon the outcomes of the polls, confirmed that “the Constitution will be changed accordingly in the coming days”, while president Ivo Josipovic, said he was “disappointed but not surprised” by the outcomes of the referendum, announcing that the government will soon present a law on civil unions between same gender couples.