The Catholic Church in the Higher Education Policy of the Republic of Croatia

The aim of the paper is to show the power of the Catholic Church as a very influential institution in today's Croatia, which regained its influence especially after the founding of the state of Croatia. The state Vatican was one of the first countries in recognizing the independence of the Republic of Croatia. Croatia thanked to Vatican abundantly for concluding special international Vatican agreements, through which the Catholic Church has secured great influence and financial resources. Very soon, the rise and rush of ever greater influence of the Catholic Church in Croatia has been going on since the beginning of the 1990s with grew of religious education in preschool institutions, schools and at the university level, that is, by introducing religious education at all educational levels in Croatian society. Also is shown the importance of the Catholic Faculty of Theology (CFT) in Croatian higher education system, importance of confessional religious education in schools, influence of the Catholic Church on Croatian Society by Croatian Catholic Medical Society and influence at the University level in wider sense. Behind all lies the clientelistic management and procedures at the University, non-transparent spending of public money, violence against some faculties their students and professors as well as the long-term fulfillment of Church's goals in conquering the field of education in the Republic of Croatia