The Japan Times - Tens of thousands petition against Croatia Catholic men's public prayers

The prayers, led by the conservative Catholic men's group "Be Manly", have been held across Croatia on the first Saturday of every month since 2022.

They have attracted a small but dedicated following in the staunchly Catholic nation of 3.8 million people, where traditional values are widespread.

The group -- often referred to as the "kneelers" -- promotes modest dress for women, opposes premarital sex and demands an absolute abortion ban.

Their prayers have sparked small counter-protests, and critics say the group's calls foster intolerance aimed at restricting women's rights.

On Wednesday, to coincide with Human Rights Day, the online petition urging the removal of praying men from city squares was handed over to the government, the constitutional court and the parliament's committee for gender equality.

By midday Wednesday, more than 66,000 people signed the petition to "Remove the kneelers in the name of 18 women killed in 2025".

- 'Totalitarian' petition -

The petition, initiated by prominent women's rights activist Sanja Sarnavka, was launched on Saturday, when a 22-year-old woman was stabbed to death by her partner in the city of Rijeka.

Only two days earlier, a man previously reported for domestic violence, shot dead a pregnant mother-of-three and seriously wounded her sister who was his partner in Croatia's north.

The Rijeka killing occurred at the same time while the "kneelers were praying at public squares for women to be submissive to men, obedient, and silent", the petition said.

"Let's close the squares to prayers that harm women and make gender-based violence seem justified and acceptable," it added calling on the authorities to react.

But Ivan Penava, leader of the right-wing Homeland Movement, a junior partner in the government, condemned the petition as "totalitarian".

If public prayers are a problem then Gay Pride and anything promoting so-called "woke" ideology should be moved to the "forests and hills not to irritate the majority of Croatians", he told reporters.

In 2024, the European Union member nation amended its penal code to introduce femicide as a separate offence, punishable by a minimum 10-year prison sentence.

T.Kobayashi--JT