The authorities in the Split Archdiocese also recall that Grubisic has been warned that he might face the exclusion from the clergy due to his disobedience towards the Church authorities.

The Split Archdiocese says that the purpose of today's press release is to notify the public with the status of priest Ivan Grubisic following a letter from the Congregation for the Clergy on 5 June 2013 to the priest.

The Congregation for the Clergy expressed regret at Rev. Grubisic's open and recalcitrant disobedience to the Church laws and to his archdiocese after he assumed a seat in the Croatian Sabor.

The Congregation dismissed the priest's appeal and officially served a warning on him, advising him to meet the requirements which the Church cited in a decree on his suspension.

If he persists in his disobedience, Rev. Ivan Grubisic will be subject to other penalties, including the dismissal from priesthood.

On 23 June 2012, the priest and Split Archbishop Marin Barisic held a meeting so that the suspended priest could be acquainted with the Congregation's ruling.

Following the latest press release, Grubisic, an independent MP and retired priest, said he did not intend to withdraw from the political activities.

"They (the Church) can expel me from the clergy, but they cannot expel my faith from me. My faith is a part of me. (...) I believe in the authority of the truth and not in the truth of the authority," Grubisic told reporters in the Sabor on Wednesday.