The Croatian Bishops' Conference denies media reports about a decision by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, while questions arise about the timeliness of the response to allegations more than 25 years old.
The Municipal Criminal State Attorney's Office in Zagreb is taking steps to determine whether there is reasonable suspicion that a criminal offense has been committed, while at the same time, at the explicit request of these same civil authorities, the ecclesiastical penal procedure against the priest of the Požega Diocese, I. Ž., is completely suspended. The Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK) used Wednesday to deny part of the media reports, stating that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has not reached a final decision on guilt nor imposed a penalty.
"First of all, the claim that the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has established the priest's guilt and ordered his punishment is not true," the HBK said, adding that the competent Dicastery only ordered the conduct of a canonical penal procedure. Any criminal liability, they emphasized, will be determined within the procedure itself, not before it begins.
The Bishops' Conference also rejected claims that Zagreb Archbishop Dražen Kutleša appointed officials to lead the procedure, clarifying that the Požega bishop, Ivo Martinović, is solely responsible for this, given that I. Ž. is a priest of that very diocese. The canonical procedure itself, however, is currently on hold.
"After the church authorities informed the competent civil authorities about the case, at their explicit request, the canonical penal procedure was temporarily postponed until the conclusion of the civil investigation," the HBK explained, with the rationale that the goal is to prevent jeopardizing or compromising the investigation being conducted by state authorities.
Although the HBK did not deny that they had previously possessed information about this case, the priest was removed from his position as parish priest only after the story reached the media. The Conference now emphasizes that as soon as they received concrete information about a possible criminal offense, they "without delay relieved him of all services and functions within the bodies and offices of the Conference," and forwarded all documentation to state authorities.
They also stressed that decisions about the priest's status in his home diocese are not within the HBK's jurisdiction, but solely the diocesan bishop's. Neither Požega Bishop Ivo Martinović nor his predecessor, retired Bishop Antun Škvorčević, responded to Novi list's inquiries regarding this case.
According to earlier reporting by Dnevnik.hr, I. Ž. began sexually abusing a then-16-year-old student of the Interdiocesan Seminary at Zagreb's Šalata more than 25 years ago, and the abuse spanned approximately ten years. The victim spoke out about everything during his studies in Vienna, and the then-Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, allegedly informed Croatian bishops about these allegations as early as 2018.
Dnevnik.hr also reported that the Vatican conducted an investigation into the case from 2024 to 2025, with the results and instructions for further action sent to the HBK in April. But while the civil investigation continues, the ecclesiastical procedure remains on hold, and with it any decision on responsibility.
