ZAGREB, March 11, 2019 – The Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) said on Sunday it entirely supported the letter the Croatian Bishops Conference expressing its deep disagreement with the decision by the Roman Catholic Church in Carinthia to withhold permission for this year’s memorial mass at Loibach, near Bleiburg, and said that MP Zlatko Hasenbegović and his followers were contributing to the Mass ban at Bleiburg
Commenting on Hasenbegović’s claim that Prime Minister Andrej Plenković was behind the Mass ban, the HDZ said that instead of investing his energy as an MP into finding a solution, Hasenbegović was using situation to promote his political agenda.
The Roman Catholic Church in the Austrian federal state of Carinthia has turned down a request by the Croatian Bishops Conference (HBK) to hold a mass at Loibach, a field near Bleiburg because the event is used for political purposes.
Even though the Bleiburg gathering is held on a private property, holding a religious service there requires permission from the Catholic Church in Carinthia.
Since last year Austria has been treating the Bleiburg commemoration more critically, at the initiative of several Austrian members of the European Parliament. Recently, a law went into force banning the display of Ustasha symbols, dating back to the time of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).
The Bleiburg commemorations are held in tribute to tens of thousands of Croatian civilians and soldiers of the defeated Nazi-allied NDH who surrendered to allied forces there in May 1945, but were handed over by British troops to Yugoslav forces. Many were executed on the spot, while many perished during so-called death marches back to Yugoslavia.
More news about the Bleiburg ban can be found in the Politics section.
