The Pope with Croatian President Stipe Mesic

The Pope's visit gets front-page coverage in all the main Croatian dailies.

Most highlight the pontiff's remarks on arrival, expressing his wish to see Croatia as part of the European Union.

The Pope's message of religious and ethnic tolerance also figures largely.

But some commentators wonder whether the visit can reverse a decline in the country's church-going habits.

EU aspirations

"Pope John Paul II: I want Croatia to become a part of the EU" is the main front-page headline of the Rijeka-based Novi list.

Almost no Croatian politician has dared advocate reconciliation the way Wojtyla did Novi List

Zagreb's Vjesnik and Split-based Slobodna Dalmacija lead on the Pope's statement that Croatia's "rich heritage" will contribute to a stronger European Union.

A Novi List commentary says the Pope is visiting to lend his support to Croatia's efforts to join the EU, but also to reinforce the message of religious tolerance.

It notes that during his speech at Krk airport, he pleaded for "painful traces of the recent past" to be removed and for "cordial relations with neighbouring countries".

It praises the consistency of the Pope's messages.

"Apart from the Pope, no-one has been able over the past 13 years to force Croatia to face the truth and its civilisational tasks in this manner. Almost no Croatian politician has dared advocate reconciliation the way Wojtyla did in 1994," it says.

Croats still need a strong personality... and in the absence of domestic favourites, the Pope will do Vjesnik

The paper also asserts that the Pope is filling a "moral vacuum" in Croatia.

"Croatia is a country without a moral guide and a recent survey showed that it is facing moral collapse. This is why the Pope's arrival is even more precious," it says.

Strong leader

Vjesnik sees the Pope's visit as filling a deep need for a strong leader.

"Croats still need a strong personality, whom they will honour and be unreservedly loyal to... There is no more Tito, there is no more Tudjman, and in the absence of domestic favourites, the Pope will do," the paper says.

But the same paper is sceptical as to whether the pontiff will achieve what is calls the main objective of his visit: to fill churches with believers and return people to the fold.

It notes that churches are still mainly empty and attended only by older people and "new instant-Catholics, whose fear of God and loyalty to the Biblical message evaporate as soon as they leave the church."

Tolerance

Another commentary in the same paper says that the main reason for the Pope's visit is the fact that "the Croatian faithful are learning more slowly than is expected of them".

This is a reference to the fact that nationalist sentiment over the wars in former Yugoslavia remains strong, with many ordinary Croats opposed to the UN war crimes tribunal's prosecutions of Croat fighters whom they hail as war heroes.

Minority Serbs, who fled the country in 1995, have not exactly been welcomed back, with many complaining of discrimination and hostility from Croats.

The paper recalls that during his previous visits in 1994 and 1998, the Pope preached "a culture of peace inspired by feelings of tolerance and universal solidarity".

It adds that this time he will expand and elaborate on the themes of tolerance and reconciliation.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.