Pope Francis gives over $100K for earthquake relief in Croatia

By Hannah Brockhaus for CNA

January 27, 2021 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Cardinal Josip Bozanić of Zagreb prays in front of a destroyed church in Žažina, Croatia, Jan. 4, 2021. Courtesy of the Archdiocese of Zagreb.

Vatican City, Jan 27, 2021 / 02:40 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis has given a Catholic charity in Croatia more than $121,000 for earthquake relief.

The money was given to Caritas, part of the local bishops’ conference, to aid families in the Banija region, which was struck by a 6.4-magnitude earthquake last month.

The quake and its foreshocks and aftershocks, which hit on Dec. 29, killed at least seven people, injured dozens, and destroyed homes and churches.

One victim was the organist at the parish church in the town of Žažina, Stanko Zec, who was found dead in the rubble of the church.

Many people have been left without shelter after their homes were damaged.

In March 2020, the capital Zagreb was also struck by a magnitude 5.3 earthquake which injured 27 people and killed a teenage girl.

The funds from Pope Francis were donated through the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

“Caritas Croatia thanks the Holy Father Francis for his expression of proximity in prayer and material assistance that will provide warm and safe shelter to those left without roofs over their heads,” Bishop Bože Radoš of Varaždin, the president of Caritas Croatia, said Jan. 26.

The charity’s director, Msgr. Fabijan Svalina, said, “every day we bear witness to the active love of numerous volunteers, citizens and companies. We are especially pleased that Pope Francis has decided to act in a timely and concrete manner…”

Following the December earthquake, the Croatian bishops’ conference donated over $1 million in emergency aid to victims.

The bishops have also been setting up temporary housing for those whose homes were destroyed, in partnership with Caritas Croatia and the Order of Malta.

Last week, the bishops commended “victims of the coronavirus pandemic and destructive earthquakes” to the intercession of the Virgin Mary.

In a statement issued Jan. 19, at the end of their plenary meeting in Zagreb, the bishops mourned those who had died of the virus and natural disasters in the country.

“We commend the entire homeland and all its citizens, especially the Archdiocese of Zagreb and the Diocese of Sisak, wounded by earthquakes, and all the victims of the coronavirus pandemic and destructive earthquakes, to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Our Most Faithful Advocate,” the bishops said.

An estimated 86% of Croatia’s population of 4 million is Catholic.

If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.

Related Articles

No Picture
News Briefs

Gregorian University to ‘review’ bishop’s allegedly plagiarized dissertation

January 17, 2020 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Jan 17, 2020 / 11:11 am (CNA).- The Pontifical Gregorian University said Friday it will review the doctoral dissertation of Scotland’s Bishop Stephen Robson, which is alleged to contain several acts of plagiarism.

The institution’s “academic authorities have decided to proceed to a careful review of the dissertation in question, in accordance with what is established in the University’s Ethical Norms,” the university said in a Jan. 17 statement provided to CNA.

“The Pontifical Gregorian University considers plagiarism a very serious infringement of university ethics since the ‘attribution to itself of the intellectual property of the text or content of a work of others, in any part of it, is a lack of justice and truth,’” the statement added, quoting from the university’s plagiarism policy.

“A charge of plagiarism involving a doctoral dissertation necessarily implies special attention by the University,” the statement added.

The Gregorian’s announcement came days after Bishop Stephen Robson of Dunkeld told CNA that he never intentionally committed any act of plagiarism, but did not explain evidence that his 2003 dissertation contained verbatim, or nearly verbatim excerpts from published scholarship, without attribution.

“I can categorically state that there was absolutely never any intention to plagiarise any work,” Robson told CNA Jan. 14th.

Robson also told CNA that he would accept the judgment of his alma mater regarding his dissertation.

“I am happy for the Gregorian to nullify my text if they think fit,” the bishop said.

Robson completed his dissertation, “With the Spirit and Power of Elijah (Lk 1,17). The Prophetic-Reforming Spirituality of Bernard of Clairvaux as Evidenced Particularly in his Letters,” at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University in 2003.

The text was awarded the university’s 2004 Premio Bellarmino, the annual prize given to the best dissertation completed at the university.

A 2019 article in the scholarly journal Analecta Cisterciensia first alleged that Robson’s dissertation contained plagiarism. The article was written by the journal’s editor, Fr. Alkuin Schachenmayr, a Cistercian priest living in an Austrian monastery.

Schachenmayr wrote that “there seem to be dozens of passages in Robson’s dissertation which are apparently identical or remarkably similar to texts published by other scholars, yet the author does not attribute these sources.”

The article cited several passages in Robson’s dissertation that were identical or nearly identical to already published scholarship. Those passages give no indication of their source material.

Among the scholars from whom Robson apparently copied are Bruno Scott James, Jean Leclercq, Friedrich Kempf, and Robert Bartlett, according to Schachenmayr.

Some of those scholars were mentioned as sources in his dissertation, even while particular verbatim passages from them were reproduced without citation. In other cases, identical or nearly identical passages from published scholars who were never referenced as sources at all were included in the dissertation, Schachenmayr showed.

Regarding the prize given to Robson by the university, Schachenmayr wrote: “One must ask whether the jury responsible for awards of excellence at the Gregorian succeeded in identifying one of the institution’s best dissertations of 2003.”  

The Gregorian University told CNA it learned of the plagiarism charge against Robson Jan. 16, after the publication of a CNA article on the subject. It did not give indication of how long its planned review will take.

In addition to a doctorate in theology, Robson also earned a licentiate in canon law from the university.

The Pontifical Gregorian University, founded in 1551 by St. Ignatius of Loyola, is a Jesuit university, and offers degrees in theology, canon law, philosophy, Church history, among other subjects.

Robson was named a bishop in 2012 and was installed as Bishop of Dunkeld in 2014.

Hannah Brockhaus contributed to this report.

[…]

1 Comment

  1. Life is a precious gift. With timely help the earthquake affected people can relaunch and rebuild their lives. Good Samaritans are showing the way.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*