The Vatican says it is astonished that Croatia’s government has
blocked Pope Benedict’s decision to hand back ownership of a Croatian
monastery to the Italian Benedictines.
This “raises astonishment,
both for the extraordinary decision and also because the Croatian Prime
Minister had expressed her intention to address the problem in a spirit
of collaboration,” Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., told
CNA August 11.
The disagreement centers on the monastery of
Dajla, in northwest Croatia. It is situated in an area that was
confiscated from Italy by communist Yugoslavia following the Second
World War.
The monastery is currently in the control of the local
Croatian diocese of Porec and Pula.
Earlier this month the Vatican ruled that the monastery should be given back to the Italian Benedictines, along with a reported 6 million Euros (approximately $8.5 million dollars) in compensation.
Earlier this month the Vatican ruled that the monastery should be given back to the Italian Benedictines, along with a reported 6 million Euros (approximately $8.5 million dollars) in compensation.
But the proposed transfer was blocked by the Croatian Ministry for Justice, which also annulled the entire agreement.
Fr.
Lombardi said that it is now “imperative to give the interested parties
the opportunity for a review of this decision in the appropriate
forums.”
The Italian Benedictines began their claim for Dajla monastery in 2004.
The Italian Benedictines began their claim for Dajla monastery in 2004.
Four years later, Pope Benedict established a special
commission of cardinals to rule on the issue.
They reported back to the
Pope in December 2010.
The commission’s decision in favor of the
Italian Benedictines caused protests in Croatia and led to Bishop Ivan
Milovan of Porec and Pula being temporarily suspended by Pope Benedict
last month to finally allow the agreement to be signed.
The Vatican ruling seemed to have particularly angered some Croatians as the Italian Benedictines had already received 1.7 billion liras (approximately $1.2 million dollars) in 1975 when the Treaty of Osimo finally settled the Yugoslav-Italian border.
The row comes only two months after Pope Benedict’s visit to Croatia which was acclaimed by most observers as a diplomatic success.
The Vatican ruling seemed to have particularly angered some Croatians as the Italian Benedictines had already received 1.7 billion liras (approximately $1.2 million dollars) in 1975 when the Treaty of Osimo finally settled the Yugoslav-Italian border.
The row comes only two months after Pope Benedict’s visit to Croatia which was acclaimed by most observers as a diplomatic success.