U.S.
Department of State Human Rights Report 1998
The Constitution provides for freedom of conscience and religion and
free public profession of religious conviction, and the Government
respects these rights in practice. No formal restrictions are imposed
on religious groups, and all religious communities are free to conduct
public services and to open and run social and charitable institutions.
Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and Islam are the
major faiths, and a small Jewish community is active. While some organizations
claimed that Orthodox priests encountered difficulties in obtaining
Croatian citizenship and travel documents, there is no evidence of
any specific discrimination against the Orthodox clergy beyond that
faced by other ethnic Serb Croatian citizen refugees abroad (see Section
2.d.).
No formal restrictions are imposed on religious groups. Croatian Protestants
from a number of denominations, as well as foreign clergy, actively
practice and proselytize, as do representatives of Eastern-based religions.
The Government tightened its residence permit and visa issuance policy
in 1997, but this was a general policy shift and not directed at religious
workers (although they were among those affected).
While the state has no official state religion, the dividing line
between the Catholic Church and the state often was blurred, and the
ruling party throughout the year attempted to closely identify itself
with the Catholic Church. However, the Church more frequently sought
an independent role for itself and was at times openly critical of
the prevailing political situation. The new head of the Catholic Church,
who took office in January, became more active in publicly promoting
reconciliation and the return of refugees and in both January and
December delivered strong messages against corruption and promoting
the need for civic virtue, dialog, and mutual respect between groups.
The Government requires that religious training be provided in schools,
although attendance is optional. Schools are allowed to offer classes
in minority religions if they fill the necessary quota of minority
students. However, the lack of resources, minority students, and qualified
teachers usually impeded catechism courses in minority faiths, and
the Catholic catechism was the one predominately offered. According
to numerous reports, although not obligatory, students felt pressured
to attend religious training.
The Government continued to discriminate against Muslims in the issuance
of citizenship documents. The Ministry of Interior frequently uses
Article 26 of the Law on Citizenship to deny citizenship papers to
persons otherwise qualified to be citizens (see Section 5). In January
Muslims, Albanians, and Slovenes also were dropped as recognized national
minorities from the Constitution's preamble on the grounds that they
were not indigenous groups.
Source: Country Reports
on Human Rights Practices for 1998, U.S. Department of State.
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