The Croatian Catholic Church is shocked by Pope Francis' support of the idea of civil unions for gay couples, the Jutarnji List daily wrote on Friday.

This is not surprising given that Croatian Catholic clergy criticised the adoption of the Civil Unions Act for abandoning “the roots of traditional Croatian family law” and paving the way for “disintegration of the traditional family,” as Gordan Crpic, secretary of the Iustitia et pax commission, put it.

Pope Francis’ recent statement is in stark contrast with such views and the thinking of a large part of the Catholic Church in Croatia, a priest close to the Croatian Bishops’ Conference told Jutarnji List.

“This will provoke reactions from all quarters, because the Pope touched something that represents a sort of DNA of the Catholic faith. It is true that God loves all people, including gay people, but at its core the Catholic Church is opposed to artificial insemination, abortion or homosexuality. That is the DNA I am talking about and which Francis, most likely in good faith, is now questioning. If we start to recognise marriages that are not a union between a woman and a man, then five or twenty years from now we will become open to discussion on allowing abortion. This brings into question the core of our faith and that is why I guarantee you that this time Francis will encounter strong reactions,” the priest said.

“Homosexual people have a right to be a in a family. They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or be made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered. I stood up for that,” the Pope said in the documentary film Francesco.

Jutarnji List also quoted Croatian Catholic conservative Vice Batarelo as saying that “private opinion is private opinion, even when it comes from the Pope, but only Church teaching is binding on the Catholic faithful.”