Original scientific paper
A CONTIBUTION TO THE DISCUSSION ABOUT RELIGIOUS TRANSITIONS IN THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA BASED ON THE EXAMPLES FROM THE CATHOLIC PRESS
Petar MACUT
Abstract
Up to recent times the Catholic press was not used as source in historiographical analyses regarding investigation of the relations between the Catholic Church and authorities of the Independent State of Croatia. Therefore, focus of this article is on the issue of religious transitions in ISC (NDH) and reports about it in the Catholic press. Furthermore, in the context of the investigation, author has tried to reveal to what extent these religious transitions were important to the Catholic clergy in ISC, in respect to the fact that the secular authorities used these transitions in order to assimilate and remove Serbian population from the territory of ISC. Author states that Catholic press did not pay much attention to the question of such religious transitions. Namely, majority of the contemporary Catholic press even did not mention religious transitions. Only some (semi)official publications, which had to announce all the official state
regulations concerning the Church and clergy, had published news on the religious transitions. It is clear that, at the beginning of this process of religious transitions, Catholic hierarchy, together with the archbishop, tried to complicate the process through insisting
on formalities. However, when it became clear that secular authorities are brutally harassing Serbian Orthodox population, Catholic Church changed attitude and accepted all the requests for the religious transition if candidates had freely agreed to such procedure.
Consequently, after foundation of the Croatian Orthodox Church, all the issues regarding the religious transitions disappeared from the official heralds of the Catholic Church.
Keywords
Independent State of Croatia; Catholic press; religious transitions; religious propaganda
Hrčak ID:
164719
URI
Publication date:
22.6.2016.
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