Vatican cardinal proposes joint historical commission to examine wartime record of Blessed Cardinal Stepanic

June 01, 2015

During a visit to Serbia, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity reportedly suggested the creation of a joint commission of Catholic and Orthodox experts to investigate charges that Blessed Aloizije Stepanic collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

Cardinal Stepanic, who was beatified by St. John Paul II in 1998, was an implacable opponent of the Communist regime in what was then Yugoslavia, and was charged by the regime with aiding fascist militia units during the war. The Vatican has consistently defending the cardinal’s record, saying that the charges against him were part of a Communist propaganda campaign. In 2011, after a pastoral trip to Croatia, Pope Benedict XVI said that Blessed Stepanic had “courageously opposed the abuses of Nazism and fascism, and then later of the Communist regime.”

On May 28, Cardinal Kurt Koch, the president of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, met with Serbia’s President Tomislav Nikolic. When the Serbian leader expressed misgivings about Cardinal Stepanic, the cardinal suggested a joint commission to study the historical record—apparently confident that any objective inquiry would clear the cardinal’s name.

Cardinal Koch also met with Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Irinej, and likely discussed his proposal with the Orthodox prelate.

 

---

For all current news, visit our News home page.

---

 
Further information:

• Nikoli?: Zahvalnost zbog Kosova, zabrinutost zbog Stepinca
• Serbian Patriarch Irinej received Cardinal Kurt Koch (Serbian Orthodox Church)
• At audience, Pope recaps visit to Croatia (CWN, 6/8/11