CARDINAL's ATTACK ON FERAL
AIM ZAGREB, January 17, 1998
A group of 57 Catholic intellectuals, as they called themselves, provoked by "an extremely distasteful front page" of the weekly "Feral Tribune" showing "Cardinal Franjo Kuharic swearing", addressed the public with a statement protesting against such "degradation of the human dignity". According to "the Catholic intellectuals" Feral's degradation of the human dignity was rounded with other supplements, including texts of Viktor Ivancic and Miljenko Jergovic, as well as Feral's photo-quiz on the satirical pages. The statement of 57 Catholic intellectuals was sent by the Croatian Catholic Association "We", but without signatures or names of these 57 intellectuals Catholics who accused Feral of "intolerably taking the initiative in public promotion of the most obscure tendencies" and of spreading and justifying "evil humiliation of a man".
In the mentioned statement submitted to the Croatian Helsinki Committee, the Assembly Committee for Human Rights and the Croatian Journalistic Society, the infamous 57 Catholic intellectuals concluded that the "time has come for all of us to think about in the name of which and whose right we should tolerate the media terror of those who attack our dignity and insult our religious feelings". In this, the large group of Catholic intellectuals forgot that in the latest witch-hunt against Feral the first shots were fired by the Church, and that no one else but the retired Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Franjo Kuharic himself was the fiercest fighter for the protection of morality from Feral's terrorism, as he called an ordinary jumbo-poster.
When launching an intensive campaign by which "Feral" wanted to promote its new, monthly issue "Feral Music - a magazine for the urban guerrilla", the editorial staff of the newly started monthly created a jumbo-poster and determined the concept of radio jingles and TV spots which would introduce this paper to the potential readers. The Croatian Television, being in the service of the party, refused to broadcast the prepared spots, allegedly on account of their vulgarity so that they had to be remade, but this time only showing the magazine's name and listing the included subjects. And while the problem with TV spots appeared rather early, the jumbo-posters had their baptism of fire only several days ago, although they had been put up all over Croatia some two months ago. The main story about posters for "Feral Music" was broadcast nowhere less than in prime time HTV News, and the time allocated to it, as well as the number of guests who spoke about the disputable poster provided more than an impressive illustration of the HTV's "professionalism and impartiality" in which there could be no space for the other, accused side.
And what was the cause of the "general commotion of citizens" and "high church dignitaries"?! The controversial poster shows a girl with a guitar in her hands, and a garter showing from under her raised dress. But, the girl is dressed in a nun's habit with an adequate head cover! A nun playing the guitar with a raised skirt and showing a lacy garter could not have been unnoticed in the traditionally conservative Croatia in which the Church holds a dominant position in the life of common folk. But the question is why did the reaction take over two months and why was it staged in the HTV halls, and not in the Church itself?
"Numerous citizens whose religious feelings were offended" drew the attention of the "cathedral of the Croatia spirit", as Antun Vrdoljak, the then Director of the Croatian Television, called the institution he was heading, to the "unsuitable contents of the poster". Therefore, a TV crew tried to bring before TV cameras people whose "religious feeling were hurt", but also some who did not mind it at all. After a short procession of viewers, there appeared church dignitaries, although some of them could hardly be called "dignitaries" as they have exchanged their respectability for sinecures that the loyalty to the ruling party brought them.
One of them was Father Ante Bakovic, advocate of the general sexual chastity of the Croatian youth, well known for his organization of picnics and "pleasant evening gatherings with prayers" at which he brought together lonely hearts. He is also the owner of a printing-office and President of the Croatian Population Movement, a man whose views the Church itself has rejected, but whom the Croatian President regularly invites to the New Year and all other festivities he organizes. Father Bakovic, editor-in-chief and the principal author of the paper "The People" (Narod), which has published numerous pro-fascist texts, considers that Feral's poster "is no credit to Zagreb", although it should be admitted that he was much milder in his views of the latest "provocation" from Split than he used to be in his personal contacts with Feral's journalists.
Condemnation of the "shameless" poster came directly from the Church Headquarters. Nedeljko Pintaric, the young spokesman of Archbishop Bozanic, considered the publication of such an advertisement an offence to the believers, while a personally offended nun also appeared before the cameras. However, the strongest was the reaction of Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, the former Archbishop of Zagreb. This is what he literally said: "I protest against such an advertisement as it was published without any moral motives. Disrespecting other people's beliefs and dignity represents a lack of conscience. That cannot be done in the name of democracy. Democracy which doesn't respect any moral principles becomes anarchy; anarchy without moral principles is equal to terrorism".
After all the labeling of and accusations against "Feral", the retired Zagreb Archbishop wearing his formal garb he adorned especially on the occasion of his television appearance, decided to accuse "Feral Tribune" of terrorism. In a categorization of the intensity of reactions against Feral's poster, only Tudjman's last year's insinuation that Feral was trying to kill him, could precede Kuharic's.
Such a fierce statement of the retired Archbishop reminded us of all that the eminent Cardinal managed to overlook during his days as the Archbishop. For example, did these same "moral principles", which the Cardinal could not observe in Feral's behaviour, prevent him from protesting in the same public way against heated fascist propaganda from the altar of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Zagreb and St.Dominic's Church in Split during a mass for the dead held for the late NHD leader, Ante Pavelic? Why did not the esteemed Cardinal make himself heard about a photo showing Father Luka Prcela holding a holy mass, with a tall young man in black uniform with fascist insignia on his cap assisting him? The distinguished Cardinal was also not bothered by posters with a picture of Pope John Paul II which HDZ used in its electoral campaign, just like he forgot to mention Dretelj and Heliport, or events after the "Flesh" and "Storm" operations when his pious worshipers went on organized plundering raids razing everything to the ground.
Nothing could make this reputed Cardinal Kuharic speak openly about the absence of moral principles and spreading of terrorism. But, a poster with a picture of a girl wearing a nun's habit was a motive enough for the Cardinal to do something he had not done for years. For example, appear on TV which only a few days earlier succeeded in censoring the Christmas message of the new Zagreb Archbishop Josip Bozanic, in which he spoke about social injustice and responsibility of the ruling structures who adopt laws which are in no way suited to a modern democratic society such as Croatia is persistently and unsuccessfully trying to present itself through its officials.
In contrast to the falsified Bozanic's message, HTV and the other state-controlled media gave space to all those who wanted to express their indignation over the discovered garter on a female leg. It seems that there are no limits to the waves of hypocrisy washing against the Croatia's shores coming from the Church, while the group of "57 Catholic intellectuals" only serves to support the tested method of burying clerical heads in the sand before all troubles shaking Croatia about which no one said a word for years, just like no one mentioned the notorious forgery of Bozanic's message which obviously disturbed them more than they expected.
MILIVOJ DjILAS