By John L. Allen Jr.
Rijeka, Croatia

Families, and especially women, have formed an important focus of John Paul's June 5-9 trip to Croatia. The official motto of the visit, selected by the Croatian bishops, was "The Family: The Way of the Church and of Peoples," and the pope has returned repeatedly to the theme.

The papal fervorino comes against the backdrop of declining fertility in Croatia, regarded by some observers as a symptom of secularization. According to statistics from the Council of Europe, Croatia's live birth rate in 2001 was 10.0 and the fertility rate was 1.39, both figures well below the level considered necessary to naturally maintain the population of 4.4 million. This is alarming to Church officials, who see the state of the family as an index of the Catholic identity of the country.

John Paul is concerned that the Catholic nations of Central and Eastern Europe now preparing to enter the European Union, including Poland, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia, maintain their heritage so they can push Europe in a religious direction, rather than being swamped by the secularism associated with the West.

During his June 6 Mass in Dubrovnik, the pope had special words for Croatian women.

"I think of you, dear women, because by your sensitivity, generosity and strength, 'you enrich the world's understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic,'" John Paul said, quoting his own Letter to Women of June 29, 1995.

"In a special way God has entrusted children to your care, and thus you are called to become an important support in the life of every person, especially within the context of the family," the pope said.

"Women of Croatia, conscious of your lofty vocation as 'wives' and 'mothers,' continue to see each person with the eyes of the heart," the pope said. "Continue to reach out to them and to stand beside them with the sensitivity born of your maternal instinct. Your presence is indispensable in the family, in society, and in the ecclesial community."

On June 8, John Paul visited the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Trsat, the so-called "Croatian Nazareth." According to local tradition, the "Holy House of Nazareth," which is held to have been miraculously transported from Nazareth to Loreto in Italy, first stopped here from 1291 to 1294.

He used his Mass that morning in Riejka's Delta Square to underline his concern for families.

"Nowadays the family, also in Croatia, requires special consideration and concrete policies aimed at promoting and protecting its essential nature, its development and its stability," John Paul said.

"Among other things, I am thinking of the serious problems associated with housing and employment. It must not be forgotten that in helping the family we also help to resolve other important problems, such as providing assistance to the sick and the elderly, stopping the spread of crime, and finding a remedy to drug use."

Croatia has an unemployment rate hovering around 20 percent, and the pope's words drew strong applause from the crowd in Riejka.

"Dear Christian families," the pope urged, "do not be afraid to present to others, first and foremost by the witness of your lives, God's authentic plan for the family … founded on marriage … in the stable and faithful union of a man and a woman."

Like other European nations, Croatia is witnessing a declining marriage rate as more young couples opt to live together informally. At the same time, however, 90 percent of Croatian children are born inside wedlock, one of the highest rates in Europe.

Whether or not John Paul's challenge to the family will make any difference drew mixed opinions among the crowd at his June 8 Mass in Reijka.

Ivo Oblijan, 45, who described himself as a non-Christian but said he wanted to be at the Mass to acknowledge the pope's support for Croatia, said John Paul is an important source of moral guidance. Asked, however, if the pope's views on marriage and family would change Croatian behavior, Obiljan was blunt: "I doubt it," he said.

Hrvoje Knapic, 19, a member of a Catholic charismatic group, was more sanguine.

"I think it could make a difference, because the pope speaks words of life," he said.

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Read more reports posted from Croatia:

• Pope uses Croatia trip to press Europe to acknowleged its Christian roots
• Cardinal Sodano's comments on the Middle East
• Mongolia trip may not happen
• Vatican opposition to Iraq war justified
• Pope defies age and heat during five-day trip

John L. Allen Jr. is NCR's Rome correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@natcath.org.

National Catholic Reporter, June 8, 2003