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 A Croation journalist says she is giving up her media career following pressure from the Catholic Church. Anna Maria Grunfelder, who is a columnist and theologist, has frequently written about alleged sexual indiscretion involving Catholic clergy in Croatia.
Writing in the Feral Tribune recently, Grunfelder accused the Zagreb branch of the Catholic charity, Caritas, of ‘moral bankruptcy’ following allegations of child abuse. Since then the writer claims that certain Catholic clerics have put ‘huge pressure’ on her and her family with threats and ‘tremendous oppression’. The journalist has not expanded on what form the alleged pressure has taken but says it relates to her position at the Austrian embassy in Zagreb where she works. Zvonimir Ancic, a spokesman of Croatian bishop’s conference said he didn’t want to comment on the allegations. Police officers in Zagreb have so far not pressed charges following the allegations. However, a number of leading Croatian intellectuals have spoken out in support of Grunfelder. One, Dr Mirjana Nazor, said the alleged pressure was ‘a return to the Middle Ages’. Another, Dr Nikola Viskovic, spoke of an offensive being waged by those in ‘conservative circles’. Vesna Kesic, a member of the national committee for monitoring and assessing the implementation of gender equality in the media said Grunfelder’s silence was damaging.  “Grunfelder wrote cogently about the narrow mindedness and the dogmatic attitudes of the Church. Her silence could have damaging consequences on the lives of women, children and other vulnerable groups.” 
“Grunfelder wrote cogently about the narrow mindedness and the dogmatic attitudes of the Church. Her silence could have damaging consequences on the lives of women, children and other vulnerable groups.” Drago Pilsel, a theologist and columnist for the Novi List daily newspaper in Rijeka, was excommunicated from the Croatian Society of Catholic Journalists in the 1990s for, as he wrote, being too critical of the Church’s activities, says this is not first time the Church has put pressure on intellectuals. In a recent article he claimed that Croatian Catholic church has been looking for way to silence the Church’s critics. Ann Maria Grunfelder has been a prominent figure in Croatian public life for more than 20 years.
Kruno Kartus – news editor of Independent Environmental Media - Alert
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