ZAGREB, March 14, 2018 - Once the Istanbul Convention is "cleansed" of contentious stipulations implying gender ideology, the Church will support its ratification, however, regardless of the procedure, full support must be provided to domestic violence victims, the president of the Croatian Bishops' Conference (HBK), Zadar Archbishop Želimir Puljić, said in Sarajevo on Wednesday.

Commenting on the announcements that the ruling majority in Croatia was launching preparations for the ratification of the document in the national parliament, Puljić said the Church had voiced its position about the Istanbul Convention twice thus far and that its position was that gender ideology, namely "a new kind of ideology," was behind the document.

"We have clearly stated that we do not accept some positions from the document. We wholeheartedly support the protection of those threatened and the protection of women and children, but we also said we do not accept the Convention because it contains a paragraph about gender ideology," Puljić said. Read more via Total Croatia News