Review article
https://doi.org/10.53745/ccp.48.94.6
Secret Diplomacy of Some Catholic Priests and Laypersons at the Beginning of the First World War: the Croatian Catholic Movement/Croatian Catholic Seniorate and the Rijeka Memorial (1915)
Zlatko Matijević
Abstract
Based on scientific and journalistic literature, as well as available sources, the author has reconstructed the secret diplomatic activities of some Croatian and Slovenian Catholic priests and laypersons, members of the Croatian and Slovenian Catholic movements, at the beginning of the First World War. Leading the initiative for the drafting of the so-called Rijeka Memorial (1915), which was intended for Pope Benedict XV, was the Croatian Catholic Seniorate, an elite organization of Croatian Catholic priests and laypersons. The Memorial, signed by Bishop Antun Mahnić of Krk, the initiator of the Croatian Catholic Movement, sought the Pope’s help in protecting Croatian and Slovenian national rights after the end of the world war. This implied the creation of an independent Croatian state, either within or outside the borders of the Monarchy, which would also include Slovenian lands. The central figures in the entire effort to prepare, draft, and deliver the Memorial to the Holy Father, besides Bishop Mahnić, were Reverend Fran Binički and Father Jozo Milošević. Milošević advocated for the creation of a broader South Slavic state community outside the Monarchy, which was realized after the military and political collapse of the Central Powers at the end of 1918 (the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes).
Keywords
Croatian Catholic Movement; Croatian Catholic Seniorate; Pope Benedict XV; Rijeka Memorial; Bishop Antun Mahnić; fr. Jozo Milošević; rev. Fran Binički
Hrčak ID:
324726
URI
Publication date:
27.12.2024.
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