PM Andrej Plenkovic on Monday met with officials of the Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK) to discuss current topics, and they 'expressed satisfaction' with the good relations between the government and the Roman Catholic Church, state agency Hina reported.

The two sides discussed, among other things, the epidemiological situation, the work of charity institutions and earthquake damage to churches.

The regular semi-annual meeting between the prime minister and government members and HBK President Zelimir Puljic, the Archbishop of Zadar, and members of the HBK Permanent Council, underlined the importance of ongoing dialogue about numerous social topics and ongoing work on resolving issues that concern the work of the joint commission consisting of HBK and government officials, the government said in a statement.

The HBK delegation spoke about the work of Catholic Church charities which give a major contribution to social care, and it also informed the PM of the damage caused by last year’s earthquakes to churches in downtown Zagreb and the wider area of the capital city, as well as in Sisak-Moslavina, Karlovac, Zagreb and Krapina-Zagorje counties.

Government officials spoke about measures taken so far to protect the most endangered cultural heritage, as well as about further steps in the reconstruction of quake-hit areas and possibilities of using the European Solidarity Fund to protect cultural heritage.

The two sides also discussed the current epidemiological situation and activities taken to fight the coronavirus pandemic as well as the process of vaccination and compliance with epidemiological restrictions.