Blessed Aloysius Stepinac | |
|---|---|
| Cardinal, Archbishop of Zagreb | |
 | |
| Church | Catholic Church (Latin Church) |
| Archdiocese | Zagreb |
| See | Zagreb |
| Appointed | 7 December 1937 |
| Installed | 1938 |
| Term ended | 10 February 1960 |
| Predecessor | Antun Bauer |
| Successor | Franjo Šeper |
| Other post(s) | Cardinal-Priest of San Paolo alla Regola |
| Previous post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | 26 October 1930 by Giuseppe Palica |
| Consecration | 24 June 1934 by Antun Bauer |
| Created cardinal | 12 January 1953 by Pope Pius XII |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alojzije Viktor Stepinac 8 May 1898 |
| Died | 10 February 1960 (aged 61) Krašić, PR Croatia, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) |
| Buried | Zagreb Cathedral |
| Residence | Krašić |
| Alma mater | Pontifical Gregorian University |
| Motto |
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| Coat of arms |  |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 10 February |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 3 October 1998 Marija Bistrica, Croatia by Pope John Paul II |
| Attributes | |
| Patronage | |
| Styles of Aloysius Stepinac | |
|---|---|
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Zagreb |
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| Part of a series on the |
| Catholic Church in Croatia |
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Aloysius Viktor Stepinac (Croatian: Alojzije Viktor Stepinac, 8 May 1898 – 10 February 1960) was a Yugoslav Croat prelate of the Catholic Church. Made a cardinal in 1953, Stepinac served as Archbishop of Zagreb from 1937 until his death, a period which included the fascist rule of the genocidal Ustaše regime with the support of the Axis powers from 1941 to 1945 during World War II.
He was tried by the communist Yugoslav government after the war and convicted of treason and collaboration with the Ustaše regime.[1] The trial was depicted in the West as a typical communist "show trial",[2][3] and was described by The New York Times as biased against Stepinac.[4] However, John Van Antwerp Fine Jr. was of the opinion that the trial was "carried out with proper legal procedure".[1] In a verdict that polarized public opinion both in Yugoslavia and beyond,[1][5] the Yugoslav authorities found him guilty on the charge of high treason (for collaboration with the Ustaše regime), as well as complicity in the forced conversions of Orthodox Serbs to Catholicism.[6] 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.[7] Jozo Tomasevich notes that Stepinac and the Church were "willing to cooperate with the regime's forced conversions, provided the canonical rules were followed",[8] when in fact the Ustaše ignored these rules, committing atrocities, including the mass killing of converts.[9]
Stepinac was sentenced to 16 years in prison, but served only five at Lepoglava before being released, with his movements confined to his home district of Krašić. In 1953 he was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Pope Pius XII. He was unable to participate in the 1958 conclave due to government restrictions on his travel. On 10 February 1960, still confined to Krašić, Stepinac died of polycythemia, for which he had been receiving treatment for a number of years.[10][11] On 3 October 1998, Pope John Paul II declared him a martyr and beatified him before 500,000 Croatians in Marija Bistrica near Zagreb.[12]
His record during World War II, conviction for treason, and subsequent beatification remain controversial. Some point to Stepinac's efforts to save individual Jews, while others note that his public support of the Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia gave it legitimacy, helping the Ustaše maintain power and commit genocides against Jews, Serbs and Roma.[13][14][15] Criticism has also been levelled for Stepinac's failure to speak out publicly against the genocide of the Serbs, against forced conversions and the killing of 157 Orthodox priests and 5 bishops, among other Ustaše crimes against Serbs[16] On 22 July 2016, the Zagreb County Court annulled his post-war conviction due to "gross violations of current and former fundamental principles of substantive and procedural criminal law".[17] Pope Francis invited Serbian prelates to participate in canonization investigations, but in 2017 a joint commission was only able to agree that "[i]n the case of Cardinal Stepinac, the interpretations that were predominantly given by Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs remain divergent".[18][19][20]
- ^ a b c Fine 2007, pp. 284–285.
- ^ Coleman 1991, p. 113.
- ^ Gruenwald 1987, p. 516.
- ^ "'Human Rights' at Zagreb". The New York Times. 13 October 1946.
This was clearly a political trial
- ^ Alexander 1987.
- ^ Phayer 2000, p. 182.
- ^ Krešić 2007, p. 94.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 539.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, p. 536-537.
- ^ "Doctor Examines Cardinal Stepinac, Condition Good". thecatholicnewsarchive.org. The Catholic Standard and Times. 17 December 1954. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
- ^ "Cardinal Stepinac Dead at 61; Was Imprisoned by Yugoslavia". The New York Times. 11 February 1960. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- ^ Bunson, Bunson & Bunson 1999, pp. 90–92.
- ^ Goldstein 2018, pp. 582–583.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:7was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cornwell 2008, p. 255.
- ^ Tomasevich 2001, pp. 555–556.
- ^ "Court Annuls Verdict against Cardinal Stepinac". Total Croatia News. 22 July 2016. Archived from the original on 8 August 2016. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
- ^ "Conclusions of the Serbo-Croatian Commission on Cardinal Stepinac". 13 July 2017.
- ^ "Memorial in Jerusalem for alleged WWII fascist collaborator stirs controversy". The Times of Israel.
- ^ "Cardinal Stepinac – villain or saint?". 9 June 2019.