Zagreb, (IKA) – On the memorial of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, February 10, the Zagreb Archdiocese and the publishing house Glas Koncila organized a presentation of the anthology “Cardinal Stepinac – Witness to the Truth” in Zagreb. The presentation was attended by the archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanić, Assistant Bishops Vlado Košić and Ivan Šaško, the state secretary of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia, Jadran Mesić, professors of the Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, numerous historians and other public figures. The editor of the anthology is Dr. Željko Tanjić.

In words of greeting, Cardinal Bozanić particularly thanked Dr. Robin Harris for his presence and testimony. He noted that Stepinac is the key for reading history, in the first place Croatian history but also the history of the Church and the history of all the events of the last century. He is the key and compass, as the Servant of God John Paul II said. He is the key for looking back and the compass for today and tomorrow. Cardinal Bozanić pointed out that this was confirmed in presentations by the cardinals and representatives of the bishops’ conferences of Central and Eastern Europe who had assembled in Zagreb.

I was overjoyed by the opportunity to contribute to this anthology of works on the life, role and good reputation of the Blessed Stepinac, and now commend him to this distinguished public, said Dr. Robin Harris, historian and advisor to former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Croatia is a Catholic country. This is a simple historical fact. Without the Catholic Church, Croats would not exist as a small, separate nation. Their destiny is linked to their identity, and this identity is predominantly Catholic. The Blessed Stepinac was profoundly aware of this, convinced that the Catholic identity of Croatia is also a call to life in harmony with the ideals of Catholic Christianity, said Dr. Harris. He was an honorable and heroic figure, an obstacle to dishonorable compromise and treason, a man of his time but also a man whom we need today, concluded Dr. Harris.

The anthology is a valuable contribution to dispelling the stereotypes and slanders that are still not diminishing. Many, including many in the Church, criticized Pope Pius XII and Stepinac for not accepting communism, and they also accepted the communist slanders against the Church. The Church in Croatia had to struggle against such views. Croatian historiography has struggled to become extricated from such historiographic assumptions. This is why the international symposium on the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac was important and this anthology is valuable.

In the anthology “Cardinal Stepinac – Witness to the Truth,” papers were published that were delivered at the international symposium “Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac – Historical Context in an International Perspective,” held in Zagreb on September 19, 2008, as part of the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the beatification of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. The anthology presents the lectures “Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac, 1941-1945, Under the Magnifying Glass of Historians and Diplomats” (Esther Gitman), “Cardinal Stepinac and the Roman Catholic Church in Croatia during the Second World War” (Ronald J. Rychlak), “The Holy See, Eastern Europe and the Beginnings of the Cold War” (Emília Hrabovec), “Cardinal Stepinac and Communism” (Roberto de Mattei), “Stepinac and Tito – On Religious Repression in Yugoslavia” (Katrin Boeckh), “The French and Cardinal Stepinac” (Georges-Marie Chenu) and “The Blessed Alojzije Stepinac and Totalitarians” (Robin Harris). The lectures were delivered in the speakers’ native languages translated into Croatian.