Ljubljana Archbishop and Metropolitan Alojz Uran said that the close links between the Catholic Church and the Slovenian nation can only be understood through the historical development of the nation, which has joined Europe through Christianity and the Church.
Indeed, the Church was very active during the early 1990s when the country was struggling for sovereignty, Uran said during Saturday's special mass for the homeland, held as Slovenia marks 15 years of independence.
The Catholic Church in Slovenia has always been closely linked with the nation, its culture, language and self-confidence. During independence efforts it also fought for human rights, freedom and equality of Slovenians and their sovereignty, Uran added.
He moreover said at a mass, attended also by President Janez Drnovsek, PM Janez Jansa, army Chief-of-Staff Albin Gutman and police chief Joze Romsek alongside several ministers, that Slovenians can be proud of the progress they have made.
At the same time we can be "critical towards tasks that have remained undone and the negative trends as well as the spiritual and moral poverty that we are seeing today", he added.
A nation cannot only live on good roads and nice houses, nor on "bread and games", but also needs "food for the soul and the spirit", Uran stressed.
He also explained that bishops' conferences in many European states, the US and Canada also contributed greatly to the country achieving its independence, while the Holy See was among the first to recognise independent Slovenia on 13 January 1992.
Prior to attending the Mass, Jansa visited the retired Ljubljana Archbishop and Metropolitan Alojzij Sustar to thank him for the Catholic Church's support and his own contribution towards endeavours to establish an independent Slovenia.
Sustar, who was the head of the Slovenian Catholic Church between 1980 and 1997, meanwhile praised the invaluable role that the current Slovenian prime minister played in the process of creating an independent Slovenia.
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