A new kind of saint? The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, December 2nd, 1998. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Fax: (612) 9281 5795. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Subscription rates on request. ****************************** By Tom Gill When John Paul II became Pope the trend towards reform in the Catholic church was frozen -- in fact there was a very significant shift to the right, both religious and political. The field covered by this shift is very wide. Recently, however, one particular aspect of this shift has attracted considerable attention and aroused real concern, both inside and outside the church as to where the Vatican is going, or even, where it now is. It came as a shock to a great many people when the Pope, in May 1992 beatified Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer, who will almost certainly be a saint in a short time. Escriva was the founder of a religious (and political) order, the Opus Dei(1). He was also a supporter of General Franco in Spain and after the Civil War he served in Franco's government especially in the field of education. Should this really cause any concern to the rank and file of the church? Does it represent anything new? After all, General Franco supported the Catholic Church, while the Church supported Franco. Recently, however, the Pope took a step which confirms the need to ask serious questions. He beatified the late Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, Archbishop of Zagreb. What did Cardinal Stepinac do to receive the greatest honour that the Church can confer? In April 1941 the German army invaded Yugoslavia and in Croatia they found an extensive welcoming fifth column, headed by the military-religious organisation, the Ustashi. The Germans set up the puppet state of Croatia which in May of the same year was given a king, the Duke of Spoleta, chosen for the job by Pope Pius XII. (Archbishop Stepinac was the head of the Catholic Church in Croatia). Ante Pavelic, head of the Ustashi became a dictator, subject to Nazi supervision. The Catholic church collaborated with the Nazis, under the guidance of Stepinac. We must not forget that all the inhabitants of Croatia were not Catholics or Croats. The population consisted roughly of 3,000,000 Croats, 2,000,000 Serbs, 45,000 Jews and other minorities. As one might have expected most of the Jews perished, no more than 15,000 surviving. Some 700,000 to 800,000 Serbs perished at the hands of the Ustashi. Not because they were racially different, which they were not, but because they belonged to the "Orthodox" branch of Christianity which did not recognise the authority of the Pope. A massive campaign of genocide was inaugurated combined with forcible conversion to Catholicism. Archbishop Stepinac reported to the Pope on May 8, 1944 that 244,000 Serbs had been converted to the Catholic faith. Some at least of this number must be included in the 700,000 to 800,000 mentioned above. Stepinac's most quoted words are possibly "Hitler is God's Envoy" (2). In case these facts seem incredible, it will be worthwhile quoting some witnesses, one or two of whom could be regarded as having specialist knowledge. >From Hermann Neubacher (Special Envoy to Hitler for Balkan Affairs) (3): "When the leaders of the Ustashi movement declare that they have exterminated a million Serbs, including babies, women, old people and children I think they are boasting. According to reports I have received the number of defenceless people who have been murdered is no more than three quarters of a million." >From another Nazi, Walter Hagen (Chief of German Espionage in South East Europe) (4): "A truly mortal hatred is expressed against the Serbs and Jews, on whom an `open season' has been officially declared, that is, anything can be done to them and they can be killed with impunity. Massacres on an unprecedented scale were organised in the Summer of 1941... "Whole villages were systematically exterminated. For example, the little town of Vojnik... This massacre of Serbs marked the beginning of endless atrocities on the part of the Ustashi... Whole regions were subjected to mass slaughter." >From a report by Major General Ernst Fik to Reichsfuhrer Himmler (5): "The Ustashi party is Catholic. It lacks discipline, it is badly led, it is not dependable in combat and it is known to have murdered, in a Balkan fashion from 600,000 to 700,000 people of different religions and political opinions. They call themselves the Croatian SS." And finally, from an Italian Fascist commander of an Italian division at Knin (6): "Four explosions of hatred have resulted in a massacre which in a very short space of time resulted in the extermination of 350 000 Serbs and several thousand Jews... All were killed after nameless tortures... "The horrors that the Ustashi committed on young Serbian girls were beyond description. Hundreds of photographs confirm the crimes which have been reported by the few survivors: bayonet thrusts, tongues and teeth torn out, nails pulled out, bodies slashed, all this being done after they had been raped. "The survivors were taken by our officers to be looked after in the Italian hospitals where their evidence has been obtained. "Oster [Hans Oster, chief of staff of the German military instruction service] told me about the remarkable courage of Glase-Horstenau [Glase von Horstenau, Commander in Chief at the time, of the German forces in Croatia] who summoned `Marshal' Kvaternik in order to lecture him in the most severe manner on the incredible cruelties committed by the Croats on 1,800,000 Serbs, and who, at the same time wrote a report on this subject. "He told Kvaternik, that in the course of these last years he had seen quite a few things of this kind, but nothing which could compare with the crimes committed by the Croats." Stepinac did not condemn, or stand aside from the Ustashi and he called on all Croats to support the Nazis two days after the German forces arrived in Zagreb. He was a member of the Croatian (Ustashi) parliament and concluded, in June '41 an agreement for close spiritual collaboration with the Ustashi. It is true that he was not acting at variance with most of the clergy or other members of religious orders. (The Franciscans gained a particularly bad reputation, one of their order being commandant of the most notorious concentration camp at Jasenovac.) Nor was Stepinac out of step with the Vatican, and his policies seem to have had the approval of the Pope and the Papal Nuncio at the time, Marcone. When the city of Zagreb was liberated from the Nazis Pavelic escaped, Stepinac remained, was arrested, tried and condemned to 16 years in prison where he later died. This was interpreted as martyrdom which will facilitate his promotion to sainthood. He was described by Pope Pius XII as a "martyr who fought for religious freedom" and was made a cardinal. One question remains unanswered. Why did Pope John Paul II beatify Stepinac? Such a step taken at this time can only serve to aggravate the tensions in the Balkans which are being exploited by NATO and the US. It could also embitter the Orthodox churches against the Roman church. But possibly more serious is the effect which Vatican policies will have on millions of ordinary Catholics throughout the world. The beatification and coming canonisation of Escriva and Stepinac are highlights which serve to emphasise the retreat from the Second Vatican Council which introduced significant reforms in the Church. Archbishop Romero of El Salvador and the six Jesuit priests were surely martyrs (as surely as Thomas a Becket) (7). How long will they have to wait? The Pope's policies must not cause us to forget that most of the Spaniards who fought against Franco, many of the French Resistance who fought the Nazis and Petain, and practically all of the oppressed people of Latin America were or are Catholics. The policies of the top echelons of the Catholic hierarchy seem to be dedicated to the alliance of the Church with the most reactionary elements of imperialism. Can the rank and file of the Church do anything at this late hour? Notes: (1) Robert Hutchison's book "Their Kingdom Come" deals in some detail with the activities of Opus Dei, as well as giving an account of Escriva's life and work. (2) From: - "The Croatian Sentinel" Jan 1, 1942. This quotation and the ones that follow (see notes (3), (4), (5) and (6) are taken from the French Journal "Editions Democrite" (Oct 29, 1998) which republishes articles from Communist journals from around the world. Some inaccuracies in the names may have arisen from translation from the original language, and again from the French by the present author. (3) From Hermann Neubacher, "Sonderauftrag Sudosten 1940- 1945" Gottingen 1956. (4) From, Walter Hagen "Die geheine Front" Zurich 1950. (5) From Karl Holicka, "Das Ende auf des Balkans" Gottingen 1970. (6) From "Il Tempo" 9 & 10 Sept 1953. (7) Thomas a Becket, Archbishop, of Canterbury, saint and martyr murdered at the altar of his Cathedral at the instigation of Henry II of England in 1170. The Guardian 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. 2010 Australia. Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Website: http://www.peg.apc.org/~guardian Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List As vilified, slandered and attacked by One Nation mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
