The Roman Catholic clergy in Istria on Thursday unanimously supported the Bishop of Porec and Pula, Ivan Milovan, in his intention to have the disputed property of the Dajla parish returned to the State, saying that the State was entitled to it, the Chancellor of the Porec-Pula Diocese, Ilija Jakovljevic, told a press conference after a two-hour special meeting of about 70 priests in Pazin.
"Even if he is not right, we are returning the property to the State, because we want this case settled peacefully and through dialogue within the Church," Jakovljevic said. "We are giving it all back to the State and we will compensate the State for what we have sold," he added.
Jakovljevic said that most of the Istrian clergy had requested an emergency session of the entire Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK) and not just of four archbishops of its Permanent Council.
The HBK Permanent Council comprises the Archbishop of Djakovo and Osijek, Marin Srakic, the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, the Archbishop of Split and Makarska, Marin Barisic, and the Archbishop of Rijeka, Ivan Devcic.
