Aloysius Stepinac

Aloysius Stepinac a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Aloysius

Aloysius Viktor Stepinac (Croatian: Alojzije Viktor Stepinac, 8 May 1898 – 10 February 1960) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1953, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his death. He served during the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, as well as during World War II when the Axis-supported Croatian fascist Ustaše regime ruled the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). Following the war, he was tried by the communist Yugoslav government and convicted of treason and collaboration with the Ustaše regime. The trial was depicted in the West as a typical communist "show trial", and was described by The New York Times as biased against Stepinac. However, John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. was of the opinion that the trial was "carried out with proper legal procedure". In a verdict that polarized public opinion both in Yugoslavia and beyond, the Yugoslav authorities found him guilty on the charge of high treason (for collaboration with the Ustaše), as well as complicity in the forced conversions of Orthodox Serbs to Catholicism. Stepinac advised individual priests to admit Orthodox believers to the Catholic Church if their lives were in danger, such that this conversion had no validity, allowing…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Aloysius

Early life Alojzije Viktor Stepinac was born in Brezarić, a village in the district of Krašić in the Austro-Hungarian Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia on 8 May 1898, to a wealthy viticulturalist, Josip Stepinac, and his second wife Barbara (née Penić). He was the fifth of nine children, and he had three more siblings from his father's first marriage. His mother, a devout Roman Catholic, prayed constantly that he would enter the priesthood. The family moved to Krašić in 1906, and Stepinac attended primary school there, then attended high school in Zagreb from 1909 to 1915, boarding at the Archdiocese of Zagreb orphanage. This was followed by study at the lycée of the archdiocese, as he was seriously considering taking holy orders, having sent in his application to the seminary at the age of 16. He was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army for service in World War I, and had to accelerate his studies and graduate ahead of schedule. Sent to a reserve officers school in Rijeka, after six months training he was sent to serve on the Italian Front in 1917 where he commanded Bosnian soldiers. In July 1918, he was captured by Italian forces who held him as a prisoner…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Aloysius

Appointment Stepinac was appointed coadjutor bishop to Bauer on 28 May 1934 at the age of 36 years, having been a priest for only three-and-a-half years, being selected after all other candidates had been rejected. Both Pope Pius XI and King Alexander I of Yugoslavia agreed with his appointment, and although the king wanted to withdraw his assent after he received further information about Stepinac, he was dissuaded by Bauer. According to some sources, Stepinac was the fifth or even eighth candidate to be considered for the role, which brought with it the right to succeed Bauer. Stepinac's decision to join the Yugoslav Legion in 1918 made him a more acceptable candidate to King Alexander. According to Stepinac's biographer, Friar Šimun Ćorić, Bauer asked Stepinac if he would give his formal consent to being named as Bauer's successor, but after considering the issue for several days, Stepinac refused, saying that he considered himself unfit to be appointed as a bishop. In this version of events, Bauer persisted, and once it was clear that King Alexander had agreed to his appointment, Stepinac consented. Upon his naming, he took In te, Domine, speravi (I place my trust in You, my Lord) as…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Aloysius

Political situation Stepinac's appointment came at a time of acute political turmoil in Yugoslavia. In June 1928, the popular leader of the Croatian Peasant Party (Hrvatska seljačka stranka, HSS) Stjepan Radić and several other Croatian deputies had been shot by a Serb deputy, Puniša Račić, in the Yugoslav Parliament. Two had died immediately and Radić had succumbed to his wounds two months later, the incident causing widespread outrage among Croats. In January of the following year, King Alexander had prorogued Parliament and had effectively become a royal dictator. In April 1933, the new leader of the HSS Vladko Maček had been sent to prison for three years on charges of separatism after he and other opposition figures had issued the Zagreb Points condemning the royal regime and its policies. While Maček was in prison, his deputy Josip Predavec was apparently murdered by the police. When Stepinac wanted to visit Maček in prison to thank him for his well-wishes on Stepinac's appointment as coadjutor bishop, his request was denied. In response to the many messages of support, Stepinac "was sincerely thankful for all the congratulations, but said that he was not enthusiastic about the appointment because it was too heavy a…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a adăugat o fotografie

acum 6 zile

R.I.P
Aloysius

Other activities In 1936, he climbed Mount Triglav, the tallest peak in Yugoslavia. In 2006, the 70th anniversary of his climb was commemorated with a memorial chapel being built near the summit. In July 1937, he led a pilgrimage to the Holy Land (then the British Mandate of Palestine). During the pilgrimage, he blessed an altar dedicated to the martyr Nikola Tavelić, who had already been beatified at that time, and was later canonised as a saint. After his return from Palestine, Stepinac began a campaign for the canonisation of Tavelić, and proposed that a monument to him be built in the Velebit mountains overlooking the Adriatic Sea.

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Archbishop of Zagreb On 7 December 1937, Bauer died, and though still below the age of forty, Stepinac succeeded him as Archbishop of Zagreb. Presaging the Ustaše reign of terror during World War II, Stepinac addressed a group of university students during Lent in 1938, saying, Love for one's own nation must not turn a man into a wild animal, which destroys everything and calls for reprisal, but it must enrich him, so that his own nation respects and loves other nations. In 1938, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia held its last election before the outbreak of war. Stepinac voted for Maček's opposition list, while Radio Belgrade spread the false information that he had voted for Milan Stojadinović's Yugoslav Radical Union. In the latter half of 1938, Stepinac had an operation for acute appendicitis. In 1940, Stepinac received the regent Prince Paul at St. Mark's Church as he arrived in Zagreb to garner support for the 1939 Cvetković–Maček Agreement, which had created the autonomous Banovina of Croatia within Yugoslavia. The Agreement was intended to address the "Croatian question", but did not satisfy those demanding full independence. Pope Pius XII declared the period from 29 June 1940 to 29 June 1941 as…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

In 1940, Stepinac told Prince Paul: The most ideal thing would be for the Serbs to return to the faith of their fathers, that is, to bow the head before Christ's representative, the Holy Father. Then we could at last breathe in this part of Europe, for Byzantinism has played a frightful role in the history of this part of the world. Of all the threats he perceived to the Croatian people and the Catholic Church, Stepinac railed most against the dangers of communism. In August 1940, in response to the recent establishment of diplomatic relations between Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, Stepinac sermonised that there could be no co-operation between the Church and communists, stated that the Church was not afraid of communists, and that communists would make Croatia "a nation of killers and robbers, debauchees, and thieves". Stepinac was particularly obsessed with Freemasonry, which was closely associated with support for the unification of Yugoslavia and opposed what it considered the Catholic Church's "authoritarianism and anti-liberal ideology." In 1934 Stepinac wrote in his diary: "In Yugoslavia, today, Freemasonry rules. Unfortunately, in the heart of the Croatian nation also, in Zagreb, this hellish society has entrenched itself, a lair of…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

World War II After the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia declared its neutrality, and the United Kingdom worked hard to help Yugoslavia maintain its stance. In the face of steadily mounting pressure from Germany and Italy, by March 1941 Yugoslavia had been completely surrounded by members of the Axis. In this situation, some senior government figures were advocating for Yugoslavia to also join the Tripartite Pact. After a number of delays, Prince Paul and Prime Minister Cvetković signed the Pact on 25 March, but the following day there were demonstrations in Belgrade, with protesters chanting "Better the grave than a slave, better a war than the pact". In the early hours of 27 March a bloodless military coup d'état was executed. In the wake of the coup, the new government refused to ratify Yugoslavia's signing of the Tripartite Pact, but did not openly rule it out. The coup found little support with the Croatian population, and on the day after the invasion commenced Maček resigned from the government and returned to Zagreb in anticipation of unrest. Invasion and establishment of the Independent State of Croatia Hitler was furious when he learned of the coup, and…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Relations with the government The historian, Jozo Tomasevich, states that the NDH regime unleashed genocidal policies against Jews, Serbs and Roma, while also subjecting Croats to the greatest repression they experienced in their history. According to John Fine, Stepinac enjoyed close associations with the Ustaše leaders, as he was the archbishop of the capital. During the war Stepinac personally celebrated Te Deums on the anniversary of the founding of the NDH, including on April 10., 1945. Stepinac served as the military Vicar of the NDH army throughout the war. He appeared in photographs numerous times in Ustaše newspapers, alongside Pavelić and other Ustaše leaders. Although he later sought to distance himself from the Ustaše, especially when it became clear the Axis powers and the Ustaše would lose the war, Stepinac and the hierarchy of Catholic Church in Croatia nevertheless continued to publicly support the Ustaše regime until the very end. In mid-May 1941, Maglione was already noting that Stepinac and other bishops were treading cautiously with the NDH authorities to avoid "compromising themselves" with the Ustaše leadership. In July 1941, no Te Deum was sung at the Zagreb Cathedral in celebration of Pavelić's birthday, which contributed to tension between Stepinac…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Racial laws On 23 April 1941, Stepinac wrote to the Ustaše Interior Minister, Artuković, "on the occasion of the announced passage of anti-Jewish laws", to caution of "good Catholics who are of the Jewish race and who have converted from the Jewish religion ... I consider that it would be necessary, in passing the necessary laws, to take converts of this kind into account." Historian Ivo Goldstein notes that Stepinac not only did not protest against the adoption of racial laws, he called them "necessary", and only asked that Jewish converts to Catholicism be exempted. Following Pavelić's proclamation of the Race Laws, Stepinac praised Pavelić to the Pope, as "a true Catholic practicing believer", and stated that "it was a much lesser evil that the Croats passed this law rather than that the Germans took all power into their own hands". Stepinac again wrote to Artuković on 22 May to protest the race laws and their application to converted Jews, telling him that members of other races should not be discriminated against "through no fault of their own." He wrote, "We ... appeal to you to issue regulations so that even in the framework of antisemitic legislation, and similar legislation…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Mass killings and concentration camps The Ustaše unleashed a reign of terror in which 80% of the Jews (30,000 victims) in the NDH were killed, as well as practically all the Roma (25,000 victims), and almost 20% of the Serb population (340,000 victims – see: Number of victims). As a military vicar, Stepinac dispensed blessings to the Ustaše armies. Stepinac initially responded to these mass killings with private letters of protest. Thus, on 14 May 1941, Stepinac received word of an Ustaše massacre of Serb villagers at Glina. On the same day, he wrote to Pavelić saying: Just now I received news that the Ustaše in Glina executed without trial and investigation 260 Serbs. I know that the Serbs committed some major crimes in our homeland in these last twenty years. But I consider it my bishop's responsibility to raise my voice and to say that this is not permitted according to Catholic teaching, which is why I ask that you undertake the most urgent measures on the entire territory of the Independent State of Croatia, so that not a single Serb is killed unless it is shown that he committed a crime warranting death. Otherwise, we will not be…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Deportations Stepinac again wrote to Pavelić on 21 July 1941 in the wake of mass deportations of Jews and Serbs to concentration camps, stating he was sure that Pavelić was not aware of the atrocities, and that others might not be willing to tell him about them. He wrote that this situation meant there was an even greater obligation on Stepinac to bring them to Pavelić's attention. Referring to Jews as "non-Aryans", Stepinac wrote: "I hear from many quarters that non-Aryans are being treated inhumanely and cruelly during deportations to concentration camps, and in the camps themselves; moreover, that children, the elderly and the sick are not exempt from such treatment." Initially, Stepinac did not oppose these deportations of Jews and others to concentration camps as a matter of principle, but pleaded they be carried out "humanely", by proposing to Pavelić, on 21 July 1941, the introduction of "some particulars to mitigate the procedure: a) for people to be sent to camp in such a way to allow them to prepare what would be the most essential, to allow them to arrange their most urgent obligations both to their families and their jobs; b) for transport not to be in…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Forced conversions In a circular letter to his clergy, Stepinac initially insisted that conversion had to be done freely, and only after religious instruction. While this and subsequent regulations were designed to protect "the church hierarchy against charges of promoting forced conversions", they also indicated "the church was willing to cooperate with regime's forced conversions, provided the canonical rules were followed". On 3 December 1941, Stepinac sent the pope a report, wherein he notes "the best prospects exist for the conversions". However, the church's instructions were ignored by the Ustaše authorities. The authorities not only conducted forcible conversions, but on occasion they used the prospect of conversion as a means to gather Serbs together so they could kill them, which is what occurred at Glina. Some Serbs demanded that the local Catholic clergy convert them in order to save their lives. Later Stepinac advised individual priests to admit Orthodox believers to the Catholic Church if their lives were in danger, such that this conversion had no validity, allowing them to return to their faith once the danger passed. On 18 May 1943, Stepinac wrote a letter to the pope, in which he estimated 240.000 conversions to date (despite some disputes…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Post-war period The Allies recognized the new Tito–Šubašić Yugoslav government in 1944. In February 1945 the Zagreb Archdiocese newspaper reported that Stepinac and other Church dignitaries attended a congratulatory New Year's reception at Pavelić's, which included members of the Allied German Armed Forces, led by Generalfeldmarschall Maximilian von Weichs. On March 24, 1945, as the Partisans fought their final pitched battles against retreating German, NDH and other collaborationist forces, Stepinac and the Croatian bishops, at the behest of the Ustaše regime, issued a pastoral letter asking Croats to remain loyal to the NDH, and stand firm against the advancing Partisans. On April 10, 1945, Stepinac celebrated his last Te Deum for the NDH, which still had Race Laws, and was just then killing the last remaining 3,500 inmates, including 700-800 Jews, at the Jasenovac concentration camp. In the final days of the war Stepinac received and hid the archives of the Ustaše Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which later proved to contain gold stolen from concentration camp inmates. Shortly after the fall of the NDH and during the surrender at Bleiburg, on 17 May 1945, Stepinac was effectively put under house arrest in Zagreb and was for the subsequent two weeks…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Trial By September of the same year the Yugoslav authorities indicted Stepinac on several counts—collaboration with the occupation forces, relations with the Ustaše regime, having chaplains in the Ustaše army as religious agitators, forced conversions of Serb Orthodox to Catholicism at gunpoint and high treason against the Yugoslav government. Stepinac was arrested on 18 September 1946 and his trial started on 30 September 1946, where he was tried alongside former officials of the Ustaše government including Erih Lisak (sentenced to death) and Ivan Šalić. Altogether there were 19 defendants. The prosecution presented their evidence for the archbishop's collaboration with the Ustaše regime. In relation to these events the prosecution pointed out that even if the archbishop did not explicitly order them, he also did nothing to stop them or punish those within the church who were responsible. The Court appointed two distinguished advocates to defend Stepinac – Dr. Politeo and Dr. Katicic. Stepinac defense acknowledged he paid courtesy calls on Pavelić and other Ustaše leaders as soon as they arrived, but this could be considered normal for the head of the Catholic Church. However, Alexander notes that Stepinac's tone of welcome to Ustaše authorities could have left the clergy in…Citește mai mult

Aloysius Stepinac a lăsat un gând

acum 6 zile

Reactions In the escalating Cold War atmosphere, and with the Vatican putting forward worldwide publicity, the trial was depicted in the West as a typical communist "show trial", in which the testimony was all false. The trial was immediately condemned by the Holy See. All Catholics who had taken part in the court proceedings, including most of the jury members, were excommunicated by Pope Pius XII who referred to the process as the "saddest trial" (tristissimo processo). In the United States, one of Stepinac's biggest supporters was the Archbishop of Boston, Richard Cushing, who delivered several sermons in support of him. U.S. Acting Secretary of State Dean Acheson on 11 October 1946 bemoaned the conditions in Yugoslavia and stated his regret of the trial. The National Conference of Christians and Jews at the Bronx Round Table adopted a unanimous resolution on 13 October condemning the trial: This great churchman has been charged with being a collaborator with the Nazis. We Jews deny that. We know from his record since 1934, that he was a true friend of the Jews ... This man, now the victim of a sham trial, all during the Nazi regime spoke out openly, unafraid, against the…Citește mai mult