Catholic Church in Croatia

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Catholic Church in Croatia

Croatian: Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj

Đakovo Cathedral

Type| National polity
Orientation| Latin and Greek Catholic
Governance| Episcopal
Pope| Pope Francis
Apostolic Nuncio| Giorgio Lingua
President| Dražen Kutleša
Region| Croatia
Language| Croatian, Latin
Headquarters| Zagreb
Founder| Pope John IV and Abbot Martin, according to tradition
Origin| c. 65: in Roman Illyricum
c. 640: Croatian Christianity
Members| 3,057,586 (2021)
Ministers| c. 3800[1]
Official website| Croatian Bishops' Conference

Part of a series on the
Catholic Church
in Croatia

Baptistry of Višeslav

History

History of the Catholic Church in Croatia
History of Croatia–Holy See relations
Historical dioceses
Diocese of Dubrovnik
Diocese of Ston
Archdiocese of Zadar
Archdiocese of Split
Diocese of Šibenik
Diocese of Nin
Historical people
Gregory of Nin
Historical sacral architecture
Church in Nin
Church in Cetina
Church of St Donatus

Organisation

Episcopal Conference of Croatia
Dioceses
List of dioceses
Archdiocese of Zagreb
Archdiocese of Split-Makarska
Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis
Archdiocese of Rijeka
Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek
Schools
Archdiocesan Gymnasium Zagreb
Pontifical Croatian College
Catholic University of Croatia
Political
Croatian Catholic movement
Media
Croatian Catholic Radio
Other
Military Ordinariate of Croatia
Apostolic Nunciature

Ordinaries

Pope
Francis
Archbishops

* Dražen Kutleša
* Đuro Hranić
* Ivan Devčić
* Želimir Puljić
* Milan Zgrablić

Bishops

* Milan Stipić
* Bože Radoš
* Vlado Košić
* Vjekoslav Huzjak
* Antun Škvorčević
* Đuro Gašparović
* Zdenko Križić
* Ivica Petanjak
* Ivan Štironja
* Roko Glasnović
* Ranko Vidović
* Rrok Gjonlleshaj
* Tomislav Rogić
* Jure Bogdan

Canonized people

Saints
St. Leopold Mandić
St. Nicholas Tavelic
Beatified
bl. Aloysius Stepinac
bl. Marija Petković

Cathedrals

Zagreb Cathedral
Đakovo Cathedral
Cathedral of Saint Domnius
Šibenik Cathedral
Zadar Cathedral
Trogir Cathedral

Churches & shrines

St. Michael's Church
Euphrasian Basilica
Church of Saint Chrysogonus
Shrines
Marija Bistrica
Our Lady of Sinj

Orders

Franciscans
Province of the Most Holy Redeemer
Province of St. Jerome
Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius
Dominicans
Croatian Dominican Province
Carmelites
Province of Saint Joseph the Father
Jesuits
Province of the Society of Jesus
Salesians
Province of Saint Don Bosco

Marian apparition

Ilača apparitions

Controversies

Clergy in NDH
Krunoslav Draganović
Aloysius Stepinac
Ivo Protulipac

* Catholicism portal

* v
* t
* e

The Catholic Church in Croatia (Croatian: Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church that is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope. The Latin Church in Croatia is administered by the Croatian Bishops' Conference centered in Zagreb, and it comprises five archdioceses, 13 dioceses and one military ordinariate. Dražen Kutleša is the Archbishop of Zagreb.

A 2011 census estimated that there were 3.7 million baptized Latin Catholics and about 20,000 baptized Eastern Catholics of the Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia in Croatia, comprising 86.3% of the population. As of 2017[update], weekly church attendance was relatively high compared to other Catholic nations in Europe, at around 27%.[2] A 2021 Croatian census showed that 79% of the population is Catholic and 3.3% is Serbian Orthodox.[3]

The national sanctuary of Croatia is in Marija Bistrica, while the country's patron is Saint Joseph: the Croatian Parliament unanimously declared him to be the national patron in 1687.[4]

## History[edit]

### Roman Illyrians and early Christianity[edit]

The western part of the Balkan Peninsula was conquered by the Roman Empire by 168 BC after a long drawn out process known as the Illyrian Wars.[5]

Following their conquests, the Romans organised the area into the province of Illyricum, which was eventually split up into Dalmatia and Pannonia. Through being part of the Roman Empire, various religious cults were brought into the region. This included the Levantine-originated religion of Christianity. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 391. [6]

In 395, the Roman Empire was divided into two parts, and the dividing line went through the Balkans. Illyricum fell under the rule of Rome and the rest fell under the rule of Byzantium. [6]

Indeed, Salona, a Greek-founded city close to modern Split, was one of the earliest places in the region connected with Christianity. It was able to gain influence first among some of the Dalmatian Jews living in the city. St. Titus, a disciple of St. Paul the Apostle and the subject of the Epistle to Titus in the New Testament, was active in Dalmatia. Indeed, in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul himself speaks of visiting "Illyricum", but he may have meant Illyria Graeca.

### Conversion of the Croats[edit]

Pluteus located in the baptistery of Church of St John in Split

in Nin, built in the 9th century, is known under the moniker of "the smallest cathedral in the world"]]

The Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They came in touch with the Christian natives and started to slowly accept Christianity. Byzantine and Frankish missionaries and Benedictines who were bringing Western cultural influences had a significant role in the christening of Croats.

Croats had their first contact with the Holy See in year 641 when the papal envoy Abbot Martin came to them in order to redeem Christian captives and the bones of the martyrs that Croats were keeping. There is little information about the "Baptism of the Croats", but it is known that it was peacefully and freely accepted, and that it took place between the 7th and the 9th century.

Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote in his book De Administrando Imperio that the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, during whose reign Croats came to the land between Drava river and the Adriatic Sea (present-day Croatia), "brought priests from Rome who he made into archbishop, bishop, priests and deacons, which then baptized Croats."

Baptism of the Croats by Bela Čikoš Sesija

Historical sources mention the christening of Croatian rulers Porga, Vojnomir, Višeslava, Borna, Ljudevit Posavski and others.

By the 9th century, Croats have already been fully included in a large European Christian community. Croatian rulers Mislav (around 839), Trpimir I (852) and many others were building churches and monasteries. In 879, Croatian duke Branimir wrote a letter to Pope John VIII in which he promised him loyalty and obedience. Pope John VIII replied with a letter on 7 June 879, in which he wrote that he celebrated a Mass at the tomb of St Peter on which he invoked God's blessing on Branimir and his people.

In 925, Croatian King Tomislav was corresponding with Pope John X on the occasion of the first Church Council of Split. The pope's letter to the King Tomislav is the first international document in which a Croatian ruler was called rex (King); that is why Tomislav is considered to be the first Croatian king.

King Demetrius Zvonimir was crowned on 8 October 1076[7] at Solin in the Basilica of Saint Peter and Moses (known today as the Hollow Church) by Gebizon, a representative of Pope Gregory VII.[8][9]

Zvonimir took an oath of allegiance to Pope, by which he promised his support in the implementations of the Church reforms in Croatia. After the Papal legate crowned him, Zvonimir in 1076 gave the Benedictine monastery of Saint Gregory in Vrana to the Pope as a sign of loyalty and as an accommodation for papal legates coming to Croatia.[10]

### Middle Ages[edit]

See also: Antemurale Christianitatis

Croatia was named Antemurale Christianitatis in 1519 by Pope Leo X for defending Europe from the Ottoman Empire

When Croatia lost its own dynasty and entered into a personal union with Hungary in 1102, the Benedictines were slowly dying out, while the mendicant orders, especially Franciscans and Dominicans were becoming more important. Religious and cultural formation of Croats was also strongly influenced by Jesuits. Church writers from northern Croatia and Dubrovnik, which was a free center of the Croatian culture, have done a lot for standardization and expansion of the Croatian literary language.

Since the 9th century there is in Croatia a unique phenomenon in the entire world of Catholicism, liturgy that was held in Church Slavonic language with special Glagolitic script. Despite the various disputes, Pope Innocent IV approved use of Church Slavonic language and the Glagolitic script to Filip, bishop of Senj,[11] thus making Croats the only Latin Catholics in the world allowed to use a language other than Latin in their liturgy prior to the Second Vatican Council in 1962.[12]

During the Croatian–Ottoman Wars that lasted from 15th to 19th century Croats strongly fought against the Turks which resulted in the fact that the westernmost border of the Ottoman Empire and Europe became entrenched on the soil of the Croatian Kingdom. In 1519, Croatia was called the Antemurale Christianitatis by Pope Leo X.

### Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary[edit]

Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac "in 1941 had welcomed Croat independence (in form of NDH), subsequently condemned Croat atrocities against both Serbs and Jews" [citation needed]

The Austrian Empire signed a concordat with the Holy See in 1855 which regulated the Catholic Church within the empire.[13]

### Kingdom of Yugoslavia[edit]

In Yugoslavia, the Croatian bishops were part of the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia.

The situation of the Catholic Church in the new kingdom was affected by the pro-Orthodox policy of the Yugoslav government and the strong influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the country's politics. After the coup of 1929, several Catholic organizations and institutes were closed or dissolved, specially in Croatia, as the Club of Seniorates, the Eagle Movement (Orlovstvo) and the Catholic Action.[14] Some members of Eastern Catholic churches, such as Croatian Greek Catholics, were persecuted and forced to convert to Orthodox Christianity.[15]

See also: Holy See–Yugoslavia relations

### The Church in the Independent State of Croatia[edit]

Main article: Catholic clergy involvement with the Ustaše

In 1941, a Nazi puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), was established by the fascist dictator Ante Pavelić and his Ustaše movement. The Ustaše regime pursued a genocidal policy against the Serbs (who were Eastern Orthodox Christians), Jews and Romani.[16]

Historian Michael Phayer wrote that the creation of the NDH was initially welcomed by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and by many Catholic priests. Ante Pavelić was anti-Serb and pro-Catholic, viewing Catholicism as an integral part of Croat culture.[17] A large number of Catholic priests and intellectuals assumed important roles within the Ustaše.[16]

British writer Peter Hebblethwaite wrote that Pavelić was anxious to get diplomatic relations and a Vatican blessing for the new 'Catholic state' but that "neither was forthcoming".[18] The Archbishop of Zagreb, Aloysius Stepinac, wanted Croatia's independence from the Serb dominated Yugoslav state which he considered to be "the jail of the Croatian nation", so he arranged the audience with Pius XII for Pavelić.[17]

Vatican under Secretary of State Giovanni Montini (later Pope Paul VI)'s minutes before the meeting noted that no recognition of the new state could come before a peace treaty and that "The Holy See must be impartial; it must think of all; there are Catholics on all sides to whom the [Holy See] must be respectful."[18] The Vatican refused formal recognition of NDH but Pius XII sent a Benedictine abbot Giuseppe Ramiro Marcone as his apostolic visitor. Pius was criticized for his reception of Pavelić but he still hoped that Pavelić would defeat communist Partisans and reconvert many of the 200,000 who had left the Catholic Church for the Serbian Orthodox Church since World War I.[17]

Many Croatian nationalist clergy supported the Pavelić's regime push to drive out Serbs, Gypsies and Jews, or force their conversion to Catholicism.[19] Phayer wrote that it is well known that many Catholic clerics participated directly or indirectly in Ustaše campaigns of violence.[20] Despite that, Pavelić told Nazi Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop that while the lower clergy supported the Ustaše, the bishops, and particularly Archbishop Stepinac, were opposed to the movement because of "Vatican international policy".[18]

Phayer wrote that Stepinac came to be known as "judenfreundlich" ("Jew friendly") to the Nazi-linked Ustaše regime, and suspended a number of priest collaborators in his diocese.[21]

Archbishop Stepinac made many public statements criticizing developments in the NDH. On Sunday, 24 May 1942, to the irritation of Ustaša officials, he used the pulpit and a diocesan letter to condemn genocide in specific terms, although not mentioning Serbs:

> > All men and all races are children of God; all without distinction. Those who are Gypsies, Black, European, or Aryan all have the same rights.... for this reason, the Catholic Church had always condemned, and continues to condemn, all injustice and all violence committed in the name of theories of class, race, or nationality. It is not permissible to persecute Gypsies or Jews because they are thought to be an inferior race.[22]

He also wrote a letter directly to Pavelić on 24 February 1943, stating: "The very Jasenovac camp is a stain on the honor of the NDH. Poglavnik! To those who look at me as a priest and a bishop I say as Christ did on the cross: Father forgive them for they know not what they do."[23]

Thirty-one priests were arrested following Stepinac's July and October 1943 explicit condemnations of race murders being read from pulpits across Croatia.[24] Martin Gilbert wrote that Stepinac, "who in 1941 had welcomed Croat independence, subsequently condemned Croat atrocities against both Serbs and Jews, and himself saved a group of Jews".[25]

According to historian Jozo Tomasevich however, neither Stepinac nor the Croatian Catholic hierarchy or the Vatican ever made a public protest regarding the persecution of Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church by the Ustaše and added that "it seems the Catholic Church fully supported the Ustasha regime and its policies".[16] The Catholic Press also praised Pavelić and the Ustaše.[16]

The Yugoslav Partisans executed two priests, Petar Perica and Marijan Blažić, as collaborationists on the island of Daksa on 25 October 1944. The Partisans killed Fra Maksimilijan Jurčić near Vrgorac in late January 1945.[26]

### The Church in communist Yugoslavia[edit]

The National Anti-Fascist Council of the People's Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH) originally foresaw a greater degree of religious freedom in the country. In 1944 ZAVNOH still left open the possibility of religious education in schools.[27]

This idea was scuttled after Yugoslav leader Josip Broz removed secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia Andrija Hebrang and replaced him with hardliner Vladimir Bakarić.[28]

In 1945, the retired bishop of Dubrovnik, Josip Marija Carević, was murdered by Yugoslav authorities.[29] Bishop Josip Srebrnić was sent to jail for two months.[30] After the war, the number of Catholic publications in Yugoslavia decreased from one hundred to only three.[31]

In 1946, the Communist regime introduced the Law on State Registry Books which allowed the confiscation of church registries and other documents.[32] On 31 January 1952, the communist regime officially banned all religious education in public schools.[22]

That year the regime also expelled the Catholic Faculty of Theology from the University of Zagreb, to which it was not restored until democratic changes in 1991.[33][34]

In 1984, the Catholic Church held a National Eucharistic Congress in Marija Bistrica.[35] The central Mass held on September 9 was attended by 400,000 people, including 1100 priests, 35 bishops and archbishops, as well as five cardinals. The Mass was led by Cardinal Franz König, a friend of Aloysius Stepinac from their early studies. In 1987 the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia issued a statement calling on the government to respect the right of parents to obtain a religious education for their children.[36]

### The Church in the Republic of Croatia[edit]

Popemobile in front of the Croatian National Theater during Pope Benedict XVI's official state visit in 2011 Holy Mass in the Zagreb Cathedral

After Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia, the Catholic Church regained its full freedom and influence. First nuncio in Croatia was mons. Giulio Einauldi, appointed on 13 January 1992.[37] Croatian Bishops' Conference was founded on 15 May 1993, by exclusion from the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia.

During the Croatian War of Independence, Catholicism and Orthodoxy were often cited as a basic division between Croats and Serbs, which led to a massive destruction of churches (some 1,426 were destroyed or damaged).

The Croatian Bishops' Conference established Croatian Catholic Radio in 1997.[38]

In the Republic of Croatia, the Catholic Church has defined its legal position as autonomous in some areas, thus making it able to provide religious education in state primary and secondary schools to those students who choose it, establish Catholic schools and conduct pastoral care among the Catholics in the armed forces and police.

Through the ratification of treaties between the Holy See and Croatia on 9 April 1997, treaties that regulate legal issues, cooperation in education and culture, conducting pastoral care among the Catholics in the armed forces and police and financing Church from the state budget came into force. As regards to financing, the Church has received the following amounts of money over the 2000s: 2001; 461.3 bln kunas, 2004–2007; 532 bln kunas, 2008–2011;475.5 bln kunas, 2012–2013; 523.5 bln kunas, plus around 200 million kunas per each year for teachers of religious studies in schools, around 60 million kunas for maintenance churches which are considered to be a cultural heritage etc.[39]

The Catholic Church in Croatia in modern times is very active in social and political life. It has implemented a number of actions in conservative spirit in order to promote its values such as: non-working Sunday, punishment of the crimes of the communist era, introducing religious education in schools, protection of marriage as the union of a man and a woman (2013 referendum), opposition to abortion (campaigning for "protecting human life from conception to natural death"), opposition to euthanasia, opposition to natural methods of family planning and the treatment of infertility, and opposition to artificial birth control methods.

## Demographics[edit]

Đakovo Cathedral Zadar Cathedral

The published data from the 2011 Croatian census included a crosstab of ethnicity and religion which showed that a total of 3,697,143 Catholic believers (86.28% of the total population) was divided between the following ethnic groups:[40]

* 3,599,038 Catholic Croats
* 22,331 Catholic believers of regional affiliation
* 15,083 Catholic Italians
* 9,396 Catholic Hungarians
* 8,521 Catholic Czechs
* 8,299 Catholic Roma
* 8,081 Catholic Slovenes
* 7,109 Catholic Albanians
* 3,159 Catholic Slovaks
* 2,776 Catholic believers of undeclared nationality
* 2,391 Catholic Serbs
* 1,913 Catholic believers of other nationalities
* 1,847 Catholic Germans
* 1,692 Catholic Ruthenians
* 1,384 Catholic believers of unknown nationality
* 1,339 Catholic Ukrainians
* other individual ethnicities (under 1,000 people each)

## Organisation[edit]

### Hierarchy[edit]

Map of the Catholic dioceses in Croatia

Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek

Diocese of Srijem (in Serbia(not on map))

Diocese of Požega

Archdiocese of Rijeka

Diocese of Gospić-Senj (The territory of the Diocese is partly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The state border is indicated by a dotted line.)

Diocese of Krk

Diocese of Poreč-Pula

Archdiocese of Split-Makarska

Diocese of Dubrovnik

Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis

Diocese of Kotor (in Montenegro(not on map))

Diocese of Šibenik

Archdiocese of Zagreb

Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci

Diocese of Sisak

Diocese of Varaždin

Archdiocese of Zadar

Within Croatia the hierarchy consists of:

Archdioceses and dioceses  | Croatian name  | (Arch-)Bishop  | Est.  | Cathedral  | Weblink

|
|
|
|
|

Archdiocese of Zagreb | Zagrebačka nadbiskupija
Archidioecesis Zagrebiensis | Dražen Kutleša | 1093  | Zagreb Cathedral | [1]
Eparchy of Križevci (Greek-Catholic) |  Križevačka eparhija | Milan Stipić | 1777  | Križevci Cathedral
Zagreb Co-cathedral | [2]
Diocese of Varaždin | Varaždinska biskupija | Bože Radoš | 1997  | Varaždin Cathedral | [3]
Diocese of Sisak | Sisačka biskupija | Vlado Košić | 2009  | Sisak Cathedral | [4]
Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci | Bjelovarsko-križevačka biskupija | Vjekoslav Huzjak | 2009  | Bjelovar Cathedral
Križevci Co-cathedral | [5]
Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek | Đakovačko-osiječka nadbiskupija | Đuro Hranić | 4th century  | Đakovo Cathedral | [6]
Diocese of Požega | Požeška biskupija
Dioecesis Poseganus | Antun Škvorčević | 1997  | Požega Cathedral | [7]
Diocese of Srijem (in Serbia) | Srijemska biskupija | Đuro Gašparović | 2008  | Cathedral Basilica of St. Demetrius | [8]
Archdiocese of Rijeka | Riječka nadbiskupija | Ivan Devčić | 1920  | Rijeka Cathedral | [9]
Diocese of Gospić-Senj | Gospićko-senjska biskupija | Zdenko Križić | 2000  | Gospić Cathedral
Senj Co-cathedral | [10]
Diocese of Krk | Krčka biskupija | Ivica Petanjak | 900  | Krk Cathedral | [11]
Diocese of Poreč-Pula | Porečko-pulska biskupija | Ivan Štironja | 3rd century  | Euphrasian Basilica
Pula Cathedral | [12]
Archdiocese of Split-Makarska | Splitsko-makarska nadbiskupija | Želimir Puljić (adiministrator)  | 3rd century  | Split Cathedral
Makarska Co-cathedral | [13]
Diocese of Dubrovnik | Dubrovačka biskupija | Roko Glasnović | 990  | Dubrovnik Cathedral | [14]
Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis | Hvarsko-bračko-viška biskupija | Ranko Vidović | 12th century  | Hvar Cathedral | /
Diocese of Kotor (in Montenegro) | Kotorska biskupija  | Rrok Gjonlleshaj (administrator)  | 10th century  | Kotor Cathedral | [15]
Diocese of Šibenik | Šibenska biskupija | Tomislav Rogić | 1298  | Šibenik Cathedral | [16]
Archdiocese of Zadar | Zadarska nadbiskupija | Želimir Puljić | 1054  | Zadar Cathedral | [17]
Military Ordinariate | Vojni ordinarijat | Jure Bogdan | 1997  |  | [18]

The bishops are organized into the Croatian Conference of Bishops, which is presided by the Archbishop of Zadar Mons. Želimir Puljić.

There are also historical bishoprics, including:

* Diocese of Senj-Modruš

As of 2009, there were 1570 Catholic parishes in Croatia.[41]

### Franciscans[edit]

There are three Franciscan provinces in the country:

* the Franciscan Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius based in Zagreb,
* the Franciscan Province of Saint Jerome based in Zadar and
* the Franciscan Province of the Most Holy Redeemer based in Split.

### Other orders[edit]

* Croatian Dominican Province
* Croatian Province of the Society of Jesus
* Croatian Salesian Province of Saint Don Bosco
* Croatian Carmelite Province of Saint Joseph the Father

## Attitudes[edit]

Although the vast majority of Croatians declare themselves as Catholics, a certain share of them do not follow the Church's teaching on moral and social issues. According to a Pew Research poll from 2017, only 27% of respondents attended mass regularly, 25% supported the Church's stance on contraception, 43% supported the Church's stance on ordination of women and 38% thought abortion should be illegal in most cases. On the other hand, 66% supported the Church's stance on same-sex marriage.[42]

## Controversies[edit]

The Catholic Church in Croatia is criticised by some for promoting and tolerating neo-fascism[43] among its ranks:

Each year in December, the Catholic church in Croatia holds the annual memorial mass[44] dedicated to Ustasha fascist dictator Ante Pavelić in Zagreb and Split. These masses are known to attract groups of Pavelić's supporters dressed in clothes with Ustasha insignia.[45][46]

During the funeral of convicted ustasha WWII concentration camp commander Dinko Šakić, priest Vjekoslav Lasić said that "every honest Croat should be proud of Šakić's name"[47][48] and that "court which convicted Šakić, also convicted Croatia and its people".[49] These statements were strongly condemned by Simon Wiesenthal Center and Croatian Helsinki Committee.[47]

Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was criticised on live TV by Croatian friar Luka Prcela for saying that the Independent State of Croatia was a criminal state and wasn't independent. Prcela said that the Independent State of Croatia "never killed anyone outside its own borders" and that former two left-wing presidents of Croatia were "anti-Croatian".[50]

Bishop of Sisak Vlado Košić was one of the signatories of a petition for the introduction of the fascist Ustasha movement salute Za dom spremni to the official use in the Croatian Armed Forces.[51]

On 1 July 2017, Don Anđelko Kaćunko held a memorial mass for Ustasha Black Legion commander Jure Francetić on which he described Francetić as "a patriot who was willing to give his life for the homeland".[52]

On 2 July 2017, media published a picture of a Croatian Catholic priest posing for a picture with a group of young boys on a children's football tournament in Široki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their team was named "The Black Legion" and boys were all wearing black T-shirts, thus alluding to notorious ustasha militia of the same name.[53]

On 2 September 2017, while holding a mass near the town of Sinj, friar Božo Norac Kljajo equalized Za dom spremni and Praised be Jesus by saying that these are "both good intentioned, human and ancient Christian salutes which don't hold a single drop of hate or vengeance."[54]

Upon the death of Slavko Goldstein, a prominent Croatian writer and publisher of Jewish origin, Mili Plenković, pastor of Hvar, published a Facebook post in which he expressed that he was "happy upon hearing the news that Goldstein died" because according to him: "yet another hater of Croatia vanished from this world".[55][56]

## Places of Pilgrimage of the Croats[edit]

* Aljmaš
* Ludbreg
* Our Lady of Marija Bistrica
* Our Lady of Sinj
* Our Lady of Trsat

## Notable people[edit]

* Josip Bozanić
* Juraj Dobrila, 19th-century bishop from Istria
* Ivan Grubišić, priest from Dalmatia, Member of Parliament 2011–2015
* Marija Krucifiksa Kozulić, established the only indigenous community of nuns founded in the Archdiocese of Rijeka
* Franjo Kuharić
* Antun Mahnić, initiator of the Croatian Catholic Movement
* Ivan Merz, blessed layman and Catholic activist
* Alojzije Stepinac, archbishop of Zagreb during World War II
* Josip Juraj Strossmayer
* Franjo Šeper
* Mihalj Šilobod Bolšić (1724–1787), a Roman Catholic priest, mathematician, writer, and musical theorist primarily known for writing the first Croatian arithmetic textbook Arithmatika Horvatzka (published in Zagreb, 1758)

## See also[edit]

* Croatia portal

* Croatia–Holy See relations

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Koliko ima pedofila u Crkvi?". 22 July 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
2. ^ "Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe". Pew Research Center. 10 May 2017.
3. ^ US State Deptartment 2022 report
4. ^ "Sv. Josip - zaštitnik hrvatske domovine". Archived from the original on 2016-02-13. "At its season on June 9th and 10th 1687 Croatian Parliament encouraged by the Bishop of Zagreb Martin Borković, unanimously declared St Joseph to be the patron of the Croatian Kingdom"
5. ^ "Balkans | Definition, Map, Countries, & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. 2023-06-26. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
6. ^ a b "Balkans - Roman Empire, Slavs, Christianity, and Byzantine Empire | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2023-07-05.
7. ^ Mandić, Dominik (1963). Rasprave i prilozi iz stare hrvatske povijesti. Rome: Institute of Croatian history. pp. 315, 438.
8. ^ Demetrius, Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia Archived 2006-02-12 at the Wayback Machine He was granted the royal title by Gregory after pledging "Peter's Pence" to the Pope.
9. ^ Raukar, Tomislav (1997). Hrvatsko srednjovjekovlje. Zagreb: Školska knjiga. p. 49\. ISBN 953-0-30703-9.
10. ^ Curta, Florin; Curta, Professor of Medieval History Florin; Stephenson, Paul (2006-08-31). Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81539-0.
11. ^ Kraft Soić, Vanda (2016). "OTPIS INOCENTA IV. SENJSKOM BISKUPU (1248.) POD PATRONATOM SV. JERONIMA I. Senjski privilegij iz godine 1248". Croatica Christiana Periodica. 40 (77): 1–23. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
12. ^ "Crkva u Hrvatskoj" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 November 2020.
13. ^ Ljiljana Dobrovšak. Ženidbeno (bračno) pravo u 19. stoljeću u Hrvatskoj
14. ^ Kristo, Jure (2011). "The Catholic Church in Yugoslavia in the Period between the Two World Wars". CROSBI Hrvatska Znanstvena Bibliografija: 177–196.
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## Sources[edit]

* Phayer, Michael (2000). The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930–1965. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253337252.
* Phayer, Michael (2008). Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253349309.
* Tanner, Marcus (1997). Croatia: A Nation Forged in War. Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-07668-1.

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