Lepoglava, (IKA) – A scholarly gathering under the auspices of the Varaždin Diocese and the Lepoglava Parish entitled Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, Witness to His Time and Visionary for the Third Millennium, was held in Lepoglava on December 5 on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the beatification of the archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, the 57th anniversary of his transfer from the prison in Lepoglava to house arrest in Krašić, and the 70th anniversary of the Eucharistic Congress in Varaždin, which was led by the Blessed Stepinac.
The gathering was opened by the host bishop, Msgr. Josip Mrzljak. The Rev. Juraj Batelja, Ph.D., postulator of the cause of the canonization of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, representing the archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, pointed out that Stepinac’s days in Lepoglava were quite significant and he left there with dignity and trust in God, according to his episcopal motto: In Thee, Lord, I Trust. The deputy speaker of the Croatian Parliament, Vladimir Šeks, one of the initiators and the author of the Declaration on the Condemnation of the Court Trial and Verdict against Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, adopted by the Croatian Parliament on February 14, 1992, speaking about the legal aspects and significance of the Declaration, recalled that this act signified the correction of an injustice, the humiliation of the Croatian nation and the condemnation of an innocent person. The assembly noted that this was a rigged trial but also cautioned against forgeries and falsifiers of history, which are again trying to assert that the rulings and verdicts of the communist regime were legal and that the regime was not opposed to the nation.

The first presentation in the group entitled Analysis of the Rigged Court Trial of Alojzije Stepinac was conducted by the president of the Academy of Legal Sciences of Croatia, Dr. Željko Horvatić. Speaking on “The Indefensibility of the Sentencing of Alojzije Stepinac in Terms of Criminal Law,” he pointed out that exhaustive analysis of the verdict as a contribution to the establishment of the truth about the criminal prosecution of Alojzije Stepinac justifies the assertion that from the standpoint of criminal law it was merely a formal verdict, in terms of content it was literally gibberish with a political goal, and the implementation of penal repression against this innocent person was in no way justified from the aspect of criminal law.
“Possibilities for the Defense of Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac” were presented by the attorney Josip Kustić, who prepared his presentation together with Anđelko Jureško. Kustić pointed out that at the beginning of the indictment, a preamble with ostensible legal basis was presented with strict instructions to the court to condemn Archbishop Stepinac. Kustić noted that the defense had clearly presented the moral dimension of Archbishop Stepinac, a martyr for human rights against all totalitarianism.
In a presentation entitled “How a Negative Image was Created of Archbishop Stepinac and the Church,” the attorney Tomislav Jonjić pointed out that Stepinac had been considered to be an enemy prior to his trial because he was a Catholic Croat and faithful to the Holy See. Due to the reputation and significance of the Catholic Church among the Croatian nation, all the regimes attempted to use people in the Church for their purposes, including Archbishop Stepinac.
With the death of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, the attempt by the regime in Yugoslavia to settle accounts with him did not stop, according to Dr. Miroslav Akmadža. When the authorities condemned and sentenced the innocent Archbishop Stepinac, they were aware that they had not succeeded in destroying his reputation among the Croatian nation and the noncommunist part of the world.
In the thematic section entitled The Reception of Alojzije Stepinac following His Condemnation, at the Time of His Beatification and Today, Msgr. Vladimir Stanković spoke about the contribution made by Croatian emigrants in defending the reputation of Alojzije Stepinac. He described how Croatian emigrants constantly followed events concerning Archbishop Stepinac, attempted to keep their ranks informed and spread the truth among the inhabitants of the countries in which they were living, with particular emphasis upon informing their local Churches about the persecution of the Church in Croatia, thereby refuting the lies and slanders of the Yugoslav diplomatic-consular representatives.
In a presentation entitled “Commentaries on Statements by Church Officials regarding the Beatification,” Dr. Vladimir Horvat, SJ, recalled that on the occasion of the beatification the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, the press agency HINA collected statements by high Church officials in the world and homeland. Dr. Horvat separately discussed the statement issued by the current pope, Benedict XVI.
The Most Rev. Andrija Kišiček spoke about the Blessed Stepinac’s relationship with Lepoglava, from a prison to a pilgrimage site. He recalled that following a long tradition of education, in 1946 Lepoglava opened a new page: prisoners began arriving who did not accept the communist philosophy and practices. Thus, Lepoglava became a synonym for martyrdom. However, Stepinac is “still” in Lepoglava. After the local church was renovated, the altar before which Stepinac prayed in prison was installed in it.
In the section about Stepinac’s Contemporaries, the Rev. Andrija Lukinović spoke about “The Heretofore Unknown Relationship between Msgr. Svetozar Ritig and Archbishop Stepinac during the Second World War.” The presentation was based upon material in the Archdiocesan Archives in Zagreb that heretofore had not been used in historiography.
The Rev. Ljudevit Anton Maračić, OFMConv., in a presentation entitled “The Contribution by Celestin Tomić in Promoting Knowledge and Veneration of the Blessed Stepinac,” discussed Tomić’s rich literary legacy, which includes four books and many contributions to various media in Croatia and other countries. In the archives of the Croatian Province of St. Jerome of the Franciscan Conventuals, in addition to unedited texts there are many works that have been prepared for printing.
Dr. Bonaventura Duda, OFM, presented a unique declaration by Archbishop Stepinac in a large biographical work entitled “Alojzije Stepinac – Croatian Cardinal” by Fra Aleksa Benigar. This is in reference to nine lines that concern the attitude of Catholic priests toward persons of the Jewish or Orthodox Christian faiths, who were in mortal danger and wanted to convert to Catholicism. Stepinac said to the priests, “Receive them to save human life, because the role and task of a Christian is in the first place to save people. When this time of madness passes, those who converted out of conviction will remain in our Church while the others, when the danger has passed, will return to their own.”
Dr. Nataša Bašić, as the editor-in-chief of the thesaurus of the Miroslav Krleža Lexicographic Institute, analyzed references to Stepinac in Hrvatska Revija of Vinko Nikolić. She pointed out that the bibliography of Revija published in 2003 listed over 300 references to Stepinac, and the content and profound messages of these articles are among the most important contributions to revealing the truth to persecuted Croatian emigrants as well as domestic readers, to whom the truth had been concealed for decades. Hrvatska Revija, which Nikolić edited and published in Barcelona in 1978 and 1980, published two extensive volumes of a monograph entitled “Stepinac is His Name: An Anthology of Memories, Testimonies and Documents.” A second edition was published by Kršćanska sadašnjost in Zagreb in 1991. Dr. Bašić cited a significant statement by Nikolić: “Stepinac appears as a redeemer of Croatia at the moment of its crucifixion.”
In the last section, presentations delivered on the topic of Stepinac, Witness and Visionary. Dr. Josip Jurčević pointed out how in the transition process in which Croatia is attempting to free itself from the identity influences of totalitarian communist paradigms and at the same time form an identity that is in keeping with the legacy of the pre-communist period and contemporary democratic civil paradigm, a special place is afforded to the clearly recognizable identity traits that are actually and symbolically connected to Stepinac.
“The Modernity of Stepinac’s View of the Relationship between Science and Faith” was the topic presented by the academic Vladimir Paar. He noted that the reflections of Archbishop Stepinac in connection with religion and science are in agreement with contemporary trends and developments. In 1934, Archbishop Stepinac said: “Science does not stand in opposition to religion. Moreover, true science leads to God.”
Jure Vujić, M.S., spoke about Stepinac’s role in the development of contemporary political philosophy. His person and work embody “engaged faith” and “active compassion,” a legacy of the great spiritual and political tradition of “reversibility” that promotes the mystical “community of saints,” the principle of familial suffering and the strength of “redemptive prayer,” emphasized Vujić.
Concluding thoughts about Cardinal Stepinac in the context of contemporary diplomatic relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Holy See were presented by Dr. Daniel Miščin. Dr. Miščin points out that Stepinac steadfastly defended the indissoluble bond between the Church among the Croats and the Pope, which is certainly one of the reasons for the often repeated special affection of the diplomacy of the Holy See toward Croatia. In Stepinac’s speech in court, he supported the right of Croats to “self-determination,” which decades earlier than the achievement of this goal included support for Croatian independence, which the diplomacy of the Holy See so wholeheartedly endorsed. For these reasons, Stepinac and his work are certainly among the most precious “legacies” of the good relations between the Republic of Croatia and the Holy See, concluded Dr. Miščin.
The final presentation in the group on the topic The Currency of the Life Work of Archbishop Stepinac in Dialogue with Modern Historio-Philosophic Relativism and Globalism was delivered by Prof. Josip Sabol, Ph.D. He pointed out that Stepinac’s life work as a whole opposes the visions and intentions of relativism and globalism. Relativism and globalism are not solutions but rather sources of new problems. Those who preserve their identity in this actual process of globalization, which lacks genuine spiritual orientation, are behaving wisely. Stepinac has a clear message for us: “enlightened Catholicism is a firm foundation for the identity of the Croatian nation,” said Dr. Sabol.

Concluding the working section, Bishop Mrzljak expressed the hope that the assembly would serve as a guidepost for the future. From the one side, we in the Church know who the Blessed Alojzije was. His brilliance illuminates the past and present. Everything that was heard at the assembly will help us convey the values he supported, which we want to follow, emphasized the bishop, and recalled that from the other side the judiciary should have its say. This pertains to the appeal contained in the statement issued by the assembly. The scholarly gathering concluded with the celebration of Mass in the Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.