Paula Jagodić 2.

Aloysius Stepinac
Young life
• from a peasant family, born in Brezani near Krašić on May 8, 1898
• in 1916, Stepinac was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian army
• he fought on the Italian front until he was taken prisoner
• in 1919 he entered the University of Zagreb to study agriculture
• Stepinac decided to become a priest in 1924 and was sent to Rome
to prepare
• he was ordained six years later on October 26, 1930
Life
• he returned to Zagreb in 1931 with the degrees of Doctor of
Theology and Philosophy
• he was nominated as coadjutor to the Archbishop of Zagreb
• after this, Stepinac stated: "I love my Croatian people and for their
benefit I am ready to give everything, as well as I am ready to give
everything for the Catholic Church."
• after Bauer's death, he became the Archbishop of Zagreb
Life – his devotion
• during the II. World War, Stepinac
never turned his back on refugees,
or the prosecuted
• his door was always open not only
for Croatians, but also Jews, Serbs
and Slovenes that needed his help
• Stepinac always stood for political
freedom and fundamental rights
• he advocated the rights of the
Croatian people
Life – his devotion
• in May of 1943, he openly criticised the Nazis
• as a result, the Germans and Italians demanded that he be
removed from office
• in July of 1943, the BBC and the Voice of America began to
broadcast Stepinac's sermons to occupied Europe
• the BBC commented on Stepinac's criticism of the Ustasha regime
Life – his devotion
• at the end of the war, Stepinac was found
guilty of Nazi collaboration at a mock trial
• he was convicted and sentenced sixteen
years' hard labour
• at his trial when his life was on the line,
Stepinac asked his communist
prosecutors: "...every nation has the right
to independence, then why should it be
denied to the Croatians?„
• he spent five years in the prison of
Lepoglava
• in 1951, Tito's government released him
and confined him to the village of Krašić
Life – his devotion
• in 1953 Stepinac was diagnosed with
polycythemia, a rare blood disorder
involving the excess of red blood
cells, causing him to joke, “I am
suffering from an excess of reds.”
• at the age of 61, Stepinac died of
thrombosis
• many Catholics call him a martyr
• on February 13th, he was buried
behind the main altar in the cathedral
in Zagreb
Why is he a hero?
• his work was marked by an energetic involvement in charitable
activities, especially in the city’s poorer neighbourhoods
• at Christmas 1931 he established the archdiocesan Caritas
• he visited the old parishes of the Archdiocese, created 12 new ones
• established close ties with lay associations and with youth groups
• the current question of the Concordat between Yugoslavia and the
Holy See he became wholeheartedly involved in protecting the rights
of the Catholic Church
Why is he a hero?
• he supported a committee which had been founded to help those
who were fleeing from nazism, and in 1938 to institute the Action
for Assistance to Jewish Refugees
• he defended human rights of those who were being persecuted
prior to, during and after World War II
• he encompassed all persons regardless of race, religion,
nationality, ethnic group or social class
Why is he a hero?
• he never missed an occasion to condemn
racism and to defend human rights for every
person and nation
• in 1943 he wrote: “We always stressed in
public life the principles of God’s eternal law
regardless of whether we spoke about Croats,
Serbs, Jews, Gypsies, Catholics, Muslims,
Orthodox or whoever else…. The Catholic
Church does not recognize races that rule and
races that are enslaved”
• he was brave enough to publish a letter
which denounced the execution of priests by
communist militants, that caused his arrest
Why is he a hero?
• he was one of the few men in Europe who raised his voice against
the Nazi tyranny, precisely at the time when it was most dangerous
to do so
• Stepinac helped to hide countless persons, predominantly Jews, in
monasteries and other Church properties
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Quotes
„We don’t need as many learned heads as we need the fair ones.”
„Ne treba nam toliko učenih glava koliko poštenih.”

„If needed it’s better to die honorably, then to stay disgracefully.”

„Ako treba bolje je časno poginuti, nego sramotno ostati.”

„To take the possibility of existence from members of other nations

or other races and to stamp them with shame, that’s already a
matter of humanity and moral. ”
„Da se pripadnicima drugih narodnosti ili drugih rasa oduzme svaka mogućnost egzistencije i da se na njih udari žig sramote,
to je već pitanje čovječnosti i pitanje morala.”
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THE END
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