1. THE CROATIAN CATHOLIC CHURCH AND THE LONG ROAD TO JASENOVAC.
- Author
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Kolstø, Pål
- Subjects
- *
WORLD War II , *CHRISTIAN leadership , *PRISONERS of war , *PILGRIMS & pilgrimages , *CHURCH & the world , *RELIGION ,JASENOVAC (Concentration camp) - Abstract
In Croatia, the relationship of the Catholic Church to the wartime Fascist Ustaša regime has been a bitterly divisive issue. The ecclesiastical leadership does not send official representatives to the main commemoration of the victims of the Ustaša terror, held in April each year at Jasenovac concentration camp, thereby giving the impression that the Church has something to be ashamed of. Indeed, the Church has been accused of complicity in the Ustaša crimes. After considerable vacillation, the Church in September 2009 decided to organize a large priestly pilgrimage to Jasenovac at another date, an event that made big headlines in Croatia. This article chronicles the tortuous road traversed by the Croatian Catholic Church before finally confronting 'the Jasenovac issue' head on. The central questions asked are 'why did it take the Church so long? And what does this tell us about the role of the Catholic Church in Croatian society? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2011
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