Croatia's challenges

Pope Benedict is on a two day pastoral visit to Croatia this weekend. What are some the key issues and challenges facing the Croatian Catholic Church and the nation in general? To find out, Tracey McClure spoke to Croatian Archbishop, Nikolas Eterovic, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.

Archbishop Eterovic says "the ecumenical dialogue is very important for Croatia especially after the dramatic experience of the recent civil war and I think the Holy Father will give a new dynamism to this dialogue." He says this message of dialogue is also important for the small minority of non-believers in Croatia: He says these non-believers "are a very influential minority because they are very present in the nation's mass media which is often very critical of the Catholic Church and Christianity."

Asked about the challenges facing the Church, Archbishop Eterovic says that even in a country where nearly 90 percent of the population is Catholics, the number of church goers is low: "the frequency at Sunday mass is about 20 to 30 percent and in the big cities, even lower..."

As in other European countries, the institution of the family is facing many challenges and Archbishop Eterovic says this is why the Croatian bishops decided to hold a National Day of Catholic Families: "to pray and reflect and give support to the family as an essential institution of society". Although he says the family "is not in a very big (state of) crisis as in other countries" he believes that the challenges are growing due to "secularisation which is present and growing in Croatia" and one example is the growing incidence of divorce.

Listen to the full interview with Archbishop Eterovic: