Ustase and the Roman Catholic Church
After the end of World War I, Croatia and Slovenia, both Roman Catholic states, united with the Eastern Orthodox state, Serbia. Together the three states formed Yugoslavia. It was however not a peaceful union, and almost immediately after the formation of Yugoslavia, the Croats founded the Ustase. This name derives from the noun "ustas," meaning "insurgent." Originally this title was used for Serb Orthodox insurgents in the 1975 Hercegovinian rebellion. The fascist connotation of the term thus only emerged later, when Croatian Roman Catholics adopted the name. The Ustase as formed after World War I was a terrorist network aimed mostly against the Serbs, formed in response to the banning of all national parties during January 1929. The head of this organization was Ante Pavilec, who founded the party together with Gustav Percec, and it was financed by Mussolini. Pavilec assassinated King Alexander I of Yugoslavia during his visit to France in 1934. Pavelic was convicted by both France and Yugoslavia for the murder, but received Mussolini's protection after escaping to Italy.
Ustase, Nazism and the role of the Roman Catholic Church
Yugoslavia was invaded by Hitler's forces during 1941. With Pavelic joining the Nazi army, he was made the head, or the pglavnik, of the "Independent State of Croatia." With the help of foreign armies, the Ustase infiltrated from Italy on 14 April 1941. The success of the "Independent State" ideal was a capitalization of the Croatian desire for independence since as early as 1102. The royal dictatorship within united Yugoslavia threatened this independence; hence the extreme hostility of the Ustase. The Ustase's political war overflowed into all areas of life, including religion. Many atrocities were committed in the name of Roman Catholicism, and in the name of God.
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Furthermore archbishop Stepinac was closely associated with Pavelic in terms of governmental, social, as well as religious affairs. The archbishop was later appointed the supreme military apostolic vicar of the Ustase army. This army then began its "battle," which would mean the suppression and extermination of all Serbs and Jews. The result was that nearly 70,000 of the Jews had to flee Yugoslavia, and had their property confiscated. Roman Catholic church fathers were therefore closely connected with the atrocities taking place on a constant basis. Indeed, on the same occasion during which Pavelic was received by Pope Pius Xll in May of 1941, he also signed a treaty with Mussolini.
Pavelic and his followers committed these massacres under the name of the Catholic Church, in order to exterminate what they termed "atheistic Bolshevism." They thus saw this as a struggle in the name of God. Pavelic thus sanctified his actions under the banner of a prominent Catholic, willing to give everything for a religious ideal. In 1941 alone, more than 100,000 Orthodox Serbian persons, including men, women and children, were killed by Pavelic's organization. Other Serbian Eastern Orthodox were forcibly converted to Roman Catholicism. The penalty for not converting was death.
As mentioned above, the Ustase battle was not only against certain racial groups, but was also a religious war in favor of the Roman Catholic faith. Thus, in addition to people, around 250 Eastern Orthodox churches were also destroyed or taken over by Roman Catholic religious groups. Archbishop Stepinac's signature appeared on documents authorizing these takeovers. Pavelic was praised throughout the Catholic ranks for his hand in the "Lord's work." This was not however tolerated in all circles, and as Nazism began to fall throughout Europe…
