Will the Archdiocese of Zagreb receive ten new churches in exchange for ceding property it owns near the city's new Maksimir stadium? No, that's not true: The city is not committed to building or delivering ten new churches. Instead, it will donate construction plots in the Zagreb area to the Church and, in exchange, the Church will give up plots of land it owns around the site of a new stadium.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) on December 8, 2023, with a caption, translated into English from Croatian by Lead Stories staff, that read:
The church agreed to cede its plot of land on which the Maksimir stadium is located to NK Dinamo in exchange for building 10 new churches.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Dec 12 08:43:50 2023 UTC)
On December 7, 2023, the Croatian Government announced it would conclude two agreements (archived here) with the Zagreb Archdiocese and the City of Zagreb for the construction of a new stadium in Maksimir. The Church will give up its claim on real estate it owns near the stadium and in return it will receive ten other plots of land in the capital. The church-owned real estate would be used to build auxiliary fields and parking lots for the stadium facility.
The text of the agreement was adopted (archived here) by the Zagreb City Assembly on December 7, 2023, and it allows the City of Zagreb to offer five plots owned by the City, four owned by private individuals, and one in mixed ownership. The Government will transfer the 10 land plots (archived here) to the Archdiocese in exchange for the Church-owned land in Maksimir.
According to the General Urban Plan of Zagreb, (archived here) all ten plots that the Church will receive are designated for the construction of religious buildings but the Agreement states (archived here) that the costs of construction of churches on the new plots will be borne by the Archdiocese of Zagreb.
So, the Church won't be receiving ten new churches in exchange for its land near the new stadium project but will receive land on which it can then decide to build church facilities.
