Young Croatian priest with the stigma of the cross and the gift of healing?

Zagreb, October 19, 1999 (IKA) — These days, a young Croatian priest, the Rev. Zlatko Sudac, is once again in the USA where he is conducting spiritual seminars, mainly for Croatian emigrants. According to reports from those present and the Rev. Sudac himself, numerous healings are occurring. Today the Croatian daily newspaper Večernji list, published the first interview that the Rev. Sudac has ever granted. In the interview, he noted that during his stay in the USA, healings have occurred during his prayers. “There have been many cures and testimonies. This always happens on the last day, when the moment comes for people to testify about what has happened to them. However, I always stress that it is most important for people to be in constant contact with a physician because of the phenomenon of being carried away in a crowd, carried away by a positive emotion and feeling better for the moment. God heals and God heals miraculously, but I would like to rule out any eventual manipulation and therefore emphasize that it is very important for them to be in contact with a physician,” said the young priest.
The events surrounding this ordained priest have attracted interest among the public and within the Church for over a year. Many “pilgrims” began pressing around the Rev. Sudac while he was a curate in Novalja on the island of Pag, according to reports in the press and television, there strange outlines of triangles visible from the air appeared on the rocky ground of the island of Pag.
The Rev. Zlatko Sudac is a gifted painter, although he has not studied painting formally. During his theological studies in Rijeka and Zagreb, he did a lot of painting. He continued painting in Novalja, where, together with other artists, he initiated a campaign for collecting funds for the construction of a new pastoral center. The Rev. Sudac donated ten of his works for this purpose, and a very successful auction was held early this year in New York among Croatian emigrants. On that occasion, the young priest also held spiritual seminars, attended by an exceptional number of the faithful. Even then there were numerous indications of his charism of healing, which increased after he returned to Croatia.
The twenty-seven-year-old Rev. Sudac, a priest of the Krk Diocese, according to the testimony of numerous believers, including priests and physicians, experienced a truly unusual phenomenon in mid April of this year: the mark of a cross appeared on his forehead. It looks like perspiration of blood pressed into the skin. At the time, many in Croatia connected this phenomenon with the beatification of Padre Pio. The young curate continued to perform his pastoral duties regularly but many were already flocking to him, seeking advice, special prayer, or healing from illness. Bishop Valter Župan of Krk sent the Rev. Sudac to the Gemelli Clinic in Rome, where he was subjected to a thorough medical examination. According to unofficial sources, the findings from this Roman clinic are expected these days, after which it is anticipated that the local bishop will issue an official opinion.
After returning from Rome, the Rev. Sudac was transferred from Novalja to a small place called Čunski on the island of Lošinj, where he painted frescoes for the new Bethany Pastoral Center of the Krk Diocese. After this, the Rev. Sudac again attracted attention by appearance in Rijeka, in the convent of the church of the Sisters of Charity, where, according to witnesses, there were also several healings. In the meantime, the pastoral center in Čunski was blessed by the pontifical nuncio to the Republic of Croatia, Archbishop Giulio Einaudi, with whom the Rev. Sudac met briefly. According to reports, his charism was not mentioned at this meeting. Hundreds of the faithful continued to flock to the island of Lošinj in order to be present during the prayers of the young priest, who in his first newspaper interview concerning his charism said: “I believe in the power of prayer. Jesus Christ has given his Church and priests the sacraments of the eucharist, the anointing of the sick and confession, by which people liberate themselves in their encounter with God. He also heals them. God grips the entire person and improvement is seen on the body. A person never produces healing because it is always Jesus Christ who heals. Every priest has this possibility from God. The more open he is, the more he nourishes his heart and himself with God, the stronger is his faith and the more he can give to people … The Church very rarely proclaims a healing to be miraculous and there are special criteria that must be met. One that fascinates me was in Chicago, where a woman without cartilage in her hip walks without pain. My advice to her was to remain in contact with her physician. The physician is amazed and I do not know how her condition developed but nothing hurts her.” On the advice of physicians and the Church authorities, the young curate covers the stigma of the cross on his forehead with an adhesive bandage. The official Church still approaches this phenomenon with great caution.