For the first time since the independence of Croatia in 1991, the Bishops’ Conferences of Austria and Croatia met in joint session in Zagreb in recent days. A solemn mass was celebrated in Zagreb Cathedral at the end of the assembly. The rite was followed by a procession led by Cardinals Christoph Schönborn and Josip Bozanic to the Kamenita Vrata Chapel. The chapel, which houses the famous icon of Our Lady, had been the site of the celebration of the Virgin, patron of Zagreb, on 31 May. During his homily in the cathedral, Cardinal Schönborn recalled the common aspects of Marian devotion, at Mariazell as at Lourdes, at Fatima as at Zagreb. “Whoever asks himself what the Church is in her essence finds the answer in Mary”, he said. “The Church was first Marian, before it was Petrine, said John Paul II. The love of the Croatian people for Mary is perhaps the deepest sign of identity of the Church in your beautiful and often sorely tried country”, declared the cardinal, addressing the Croatian faithful. Earlier Cardinal Schönborn had referred to the close bond of history and faith between Austria and Croatia, mentioning the great Croatian diaspora in Vienna and in other Austrian cities, and the Croat minority settled for centuries in the Burgenland. Asked about the possible entry of Croatia into the EU, Schönborn replied: “The European Union will only be truly European if Croatia too is in it, because Croatia is in Europe”.
