 In 2004 he forbade 24 friars to conduct pastoral duties for their refusal to sign the Declaration.In 2003, Pope John Paul II asked the members of the General Chapter of the Franciscan Order to carry into effect the decision of his predecessor, Pope Paul VI, going back to 1975.According to Helen Walasek, Bishop Perić supported the actions of local authorities to "pursue their policy of cultural and ethnic exclusivism."