Croatian media on post-earthquake aid: "Serbia donated more to Petrinja than the Church"

The Croatian website Index is reporting that after the earthquake, more help came from Serbia than from the Church.

As they say, two days after the devastating earthquake that hit Petrinja, the Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK) announced that it would donate seven million kunas as help to the victims of the earthquake, while the money is intended for those who are most in need of help in the Sisak diocese and the Zagreb archdiocese.

As announced at that time by the Secretary General of the HBK Krunoslav Novak further assistance will be discussed at the upcoming plenary session of this body, when the situation on the ground will be analyzed and the need for assistance determined, as well as other ways of possible action.

They stress that the project of establishing temporary container housing which the Croatian Caritas is trying to carry out together with the Maltese Order, has also been announced.

The Serbian government approved one million euros

The day before, that is, a day after the earthquake, as Index writes, the Government of the Republic of Serbia made a decision to send the amount of one million euros in financial aid to Croatia.

"That is almost 550,000 kunas more than the amount paid by the Church, an institution that receives about a billion kunas a year from taxpayers," this portal points out.

"The exact amount that we gift them every year is still unknown, because the Catholic Church in Croatia is financially non-transparent. Namely, as the Catholic Church in Croatia is financially non-transparent and how, thanks to the Vatican treaties, it has a capillary network in various social areas and is receiving money from the state and from district and local governments, is simply impossible to find out all the money that flows in from various state levels and institutions to the accounts of the Catholic Church, which in Croatia has more than 2,000 legal entities that it manages or is associated with.

"All that money that the Catholic Church received from the state is exempt from the State Audit Office," concludes Index.

According to the site, the figure of around one billion kunas a year was uncovered by investigative journalists who dealt with this topic, noting that it is still not the final amount. All that money is exempted from the State Audit checks.

"Fasting and prayer against the effects of the earthquake"

"While the bishops are waiting for the next plenary session of the HBK, Serbia has already, as we unofficially found out, decided to send a new round of aid," this portal points out.

Index said it unofficially learned that an additional 100,000 euros are arriving from Serbia for the purchase of mobile containers that will accommodate people who have lost their homes. They add that the information is unofficial and has not been confirmed yet.

"However, when we write about the assistance from the Church, it should be mentioned that the bishop of Varazdin, Bozo Rados, has declared a Day of Lent and Prayer, while Archbishop of Split and Makarska Marin Baricic extended it and called on the faithful to pray for earthquake victims."

(Telegraf.rs)