Croatian church and government officials said Friday Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Roman Catholic bastion in the Balkans for the first time next year.Zagreb archbishop Cardinal Josip Bozanic said the pope has accepted the country's invitation and will come "most probably in the first half of the next year."
Bozanic said the pontiff is set to stay in the capital of Zagreb for a weekend.
He said the pontiff will visit and pray before the tomb of Alojzije Stepinac, country's World War II Catholic primate that Benedict's predecessor, late Pope John Paul II, beatified during his 1998 trip.
John Paul II visited Croatia three times.
President Ivo Josipovic said the visit would be a "great event for Croatia."
"It will give an additional impetus to all of us to persist in reforms" needed to earn the entry into the European Union, Josipovic said. "It will also be a clear message to Europe that Croatia is a European nation."
Benedict's arrival will certainly delight many Croats, eight in 10 of whom are Catholic. The church still has a strong influence. Some recent surveys show, however, that the number of people practicing the faith is falling.
Some have been critical whether a country, that suffers a serious economic downturn, can afford to finance his visit.
A popular news portal www.index.hr asked Friday whether "prayers with the pope feed poor Croatian families?"
SIC: TCP/INT'L
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