GOOD SHEPHERD COMMUNITY, CROATIA
ZAJEDNICA "DOBRI PASTIR", HRVATSKA

The beginnings of the Charismatic Catholic Renewal go back as far as the eighties of the 20th century, when Prof. Tomislav Ivancic started his seminars for spiritual renewal. Since then, a number of the worldwide known charismatics have visited Croatia. Also, a number of Croatian priests have turned towards this type of spirituality - such as Zvjezdan Linic, Drazen Radigovic, Ivan Miskic, Smiljan Kozul as well as many others. Many laymen also have become involved in it forming the prayer groups (as Josip Loncar who has been leading a very successful community in the town of Koprivnica).

The charismatic communities have been under observation of the bishops - they do not have a spiritual director, although the bishops have promised to grant him. The bishops have been looking for the model of organizing the Charismatic Renewal in Croatia. In our country there are many, but not organized prayer groups.

Since the beginning of this year we have started uniting many small prayer groups into a big community - in this way Good Shepherd Community was formed. It is active mostly in the northern part of Croatia, although it has its members all over Croatia. Good Shephard Community is led by Rev. Drazen Radigovic and a layman Josip Loncar, who, since autumn of 2000, have organized big charismatic meetings every two months in Cazma, a little town near Zagreb.

Good Shepherd Community wants to give its contribution to the Charismatic Renewal within the Catholic Church in Croatia. It wants to help people to recognize charismas and talents given to them by God, or to teach them how to get specific charismas that God gives for serving the Church. The community is also ready to help parish priests forming the charismatic prayer communities in their parishes. We would like to have the charismatic movement well organized here, to be well led, since it could be through its freshness and spirituality a great impulse for spirutual growth and renewal of our parishes, and through that, a blessing to our Church as well.

The community Good Shepherd brings together the faithful Catholics who have the charismatic experience in common. Under the expression charismatic experience we mean that the Chatolics have:

• attended seminars for spiritual renewal of charismatic type
• got to know the effects of charismas
• experienced the effects of charismas in their own lives
• desired to deepen their experiences, get new insights in charismatic experiences
• wanted to get involved in an effective way in the life of the Church, specially in their parish communities

The ways of activities of the Community:

• Home prayer group
• Biblical group
• Liturgy group
• Evangelization group
• Journalist / publishing group
• Caritative group
• Charismatic prayer group
• Group for leading married couples and preparation seminars for marriage
• Group for working with drug abusers and delinquents
• Organizational group
  

There are about 80 home prayer groups, and there about 100 in the process of forming. There are about 10 biblical groups. We organize teaching for group leaders. Our Community is the only one that takes care about the Charismatic Renewal in the neighbouring country BiH (e.g. Catholic part of Herzegovina).

The journalist / publishing group is very active. It has started the bi-monthly magazine RHEMA (now published on 68 pages). We already published 4 issues. We use ICCRS materials in it as well.

/ Josip Loncar and Brigita Pecek.

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The names and and addresses of this God Sheperd Community are:

President is Rev. DRAZEN RADIGOVIC.
Vice- President of the Community): JOSIP LONCAR 
tel. 385 98 451 485
e-mail fides@kc.hinet.hr 
address 48 000 Koprivnica, Kresimirova 56 A, Croatia

BRIGITA PECEK (Editor-in-Chief of RHEMA)
tel. 385 98 451 489
e-mail brigita.pecek@zg.hinet.hr 
address 10000 Zagreb, Ilica 35, Croatia