The Porec-Pula diocese did not seize the property claimed by the Italian Benedictines, but got it based on Croatian laws, and is free to use it as its owner, diocese chancellor Ilija Jakovljevic said on Tuesday.
"Our diocese did not seize the property in question from the Abbey of Praglia, because was got it based on Croatian laws. We got it from the State and we were free to use it as the owner," Jakovljevic told Croatian Television (HTV) in its prime-time evening news programme.
He was speaking after the Holy See's press service issued a statement following media reports about the dispute over the request by the Italian Benedictine Abbey of Praglia for the restitution of the property of the Dajla parish in the Porec-Pula diocese in Istria.
Jakovljevic said he deeply believed this was a big misunderstanding between Porec and Rome and that a solution would be found soon to everyone's satisfaction.
He stressed that this was not a church matter because the Abbey of Praglia had sued the State for compensation, adding that if the State did not want to compensate it for the property, then the diocese should do so.
The matter is now in the hands of State institutions and the diocese has asked the Croatian Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to look into all options, Jakovljevic said.
He said that the diocese was ready to give the property back to the State because under the Croatian law and the Osimo accords it belongs either to the State or to the parish.
