Archbishop Faces Death in Tito "Trial"
Yugoslavs Cleared Church, Pope Says
Rome, Oct. 5.—(NC) — What
ever may be the fate of Arch
bishop Aloysias Stepinac at the
hands of his accusers, history wil
record his trial before what is
termed a “people’s court” in Za
greb as an example of Christian
courage and conviction in the face
of perverted justice.
This is the unanimous opinion
reached here on the basis of re
ports from the school gymnasium
where the trial was staged with
all the techniques developed by
totalitarian regimes for such pur
poses. The “real” people of Cro
atia crowded the churches to pray
for their Archbishop.
There was, on the one side, a
four-man tribunal, whose mem
bers did not even pretend to act
in a manner befitting judges but
plainly considered the defendant
guilty from the very moment the
“trial” was opened.
There was a prosecutor who
mistook his functions for that of a
political agitator; and, fully in
keeping with the atmosphere at
such propaganda trials, there were
the crowds packing the court
room, jeering the defendant and
applauding the presentation of so
called evidence.
And, on the other side, there
was the Archbishop, disclaiming
the legitimacy of the trial, ans
wering only when the honor of
religion or the Church was at
stake, until, in an impassioned
address, he tore through the maze
of distortions and exposed the
true purpose of the trial: to de
stroy the Church in Croatia and
the centuries-old loyalty of the
people to the Holy See and to
make religion a subservient instru
ment of the State.
“Compared with the case built
up by the prosecution, the ans
wers of the Archbishop were like
a blast of wind against a spider’s
web,” wrote Osservatore Roma
nd in comment on the reports
from the trial.
jucxui c uic juugco at uagicu,
Archbishop Stepinac defends, with
the innocence proper to a worthy
Bishop, the liberty of the Jugo
slav people,” declared II Quotidia
no, organ of Catholic Action.
It was in a\ 40-minute address
to the.court that Archbishop Step
inac, often -interrupted by the
jeering crowds, told the court that
just as “the communists have the
right to fight for their materialis
tic theory, so we have the right
to fight for Christianity.”
“You talk about freedom of re
ligion in Yugoslavia today and im
ply that it is greater than any
where else,” he said, “and I tell
you that a great number of priests
have been killed here.
“You could have interned them;
you did not have to kill them. The
people will never forgive you for
that, and there was never a bigger
scandal than that anywhere else
in the world.
“Not one Bishop or Catholic
priest is safe for his life, day or
night. When you want loyalty
from us, then we also demand our
rights.”
And then the Archbishop added
this ominous statement: “Not
only does the Church in Yugosla
via have no freedom, but in a
short while it will be annihilated.”
-The Archbishop dismissed
charges accusing him of collabora
tion with' the Croat Ustashi re
gime during the years from 1941
to 12(45 by making it clear that
he maintained some relations with
that regime for the one and only
reason that there was no other
r
FACES TRIAL
Rome, Oct. 6.—In a speech de
livered at his summer residence,
Castel Gandolfo, to the Sacred
Tribunal of the Roman Rota,
which resufaies its activities to
morrow, the Pope declared today
that Yugoslavia had acknowledged
as long ago as 1942 that neither
the Holy See nor the Roman Cath
in the “so-called forced conver
olic Episcopacy had had any part
sions” in Croatia. He categori
cally rejected the charges made at
what he called the “very sad
trial” of Archbishop Aloysius
Stcpinac that he himself had ap
proved such conversions.
The Pope began by explaining
what the church meant by “free
dom of conscience” and by tol
erance toward other religious con
fessions. He dwelled particularly
on the article of the Canon Law
saying that “nobody must be
obliged against his will to embrace
the Catholic faith.”
Referring directly to Monsignor
Stepinac’s trial, the Pope continu
ed: “If, therefore, a few days ago,
according to news appearing in the
press, the public prosecutor in a
very sad trial affirmed that the
Pope himself had approved the
socalled ‘forced conversions’ and
moreover—what would be even
be graver—that he had done so
for reasons of national imperial
ism, we have the right and the
duty to reject such a false accu
sation. In order that our asser
tion may be duty documented, we
consider it fitting to read to you a
memodandum of the Secretary of
State, dated Jan. 25, 1942, in reply
to a question submitted to it by the
Yugoslav legation to the Holy See
about the movement of conversion
which Yugoslavia herself express
ly acknowledged that neither the
Holy See nor the Catholic Epis
copacy in Croatia had had any
^art whatsoever.” ' - >
Washington, Oct. 4.—(NC) —
The propaganda trial of Archbish
op Aloysius Stepinac aims at
crushing the Catholic Church,
‘“the strongest bulwark against
communism in Yugoslavia today,”
writes The New York Times in an
editorial, saying that the trial
of the Croat prelate “has no more
relation to justice than that of
General Mikhailovitch.”
“The defendant is only a tar
.get through which the poisoned
arrows of the prosecution are
aimed at a larger objective,”
writes the Times. “As the Mikhail
ovitch trial was used to advance
the Communi^party line that the
United States and Britain approve
ed and supported the Nazi occupa
tion of Yugoslavia, so the Stepinac
trial is being used to charge the
Catholic Church with a similar
collaboration.”
Pointing out that Archbishop
Stepinac “dragged to the bar is
proving more formidable than
when he was free,” the Times says
“not since Cardinal Mercier, Rom
an prelate of Belgium in the First
World War, and Pastor Niemoeller
in Hitler’s ‘Protestant Germany,
has any churchman so boldly faced
entrenched tyranny, shielded only
in the armor of his conscience.”
Having failed to crush the
Church through murders of priests
by the secret police, “the trial of
Archbishop Stepinac is the heavi
est weapon against the Church Ti
to has yet rolled out,” the Times
says in conclusion, adding:
“If the lessons of history mean
anything, he is merely making a
martyr whose spirit and influence
he cannot kill.”
ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC
authority existing in Croatia at the
time.
‘‘Tell me,” he said, “who was
my authority in 1941? Was it tile
(Belgrade) Simovic government
who put in a king illegally against
the constitution? Was it the
treacherous London exiled govern
ment? Was my authority Mikhai
lovitch (Serb general, executed
this year by the Tito regime) who
wasn’t known at that time? Or
was this government my authority
which didn’t even exist then?”
“From May 8, 1945, (the day
when Tito came to power in Croa
tia) you were my authority,” the
Archbishop said, “and not before
that. From that day 'cn’KyCtMiad
the right to ask me for my bfe^
havior, and I can go, with a dealt,
conscience, to the other world.”
m me vci y ucguiuuig ui me
“trial” the Archbishop told the
court: “My conscience is clear and
I am not going to say any more
about it. You can bring a thous
and proofs but you will never
be able to prove a single crime.”
The Archbishop promised that he
would “give a full account when
conditions in the country are set
tled,” and that then “there will
be no one who will say a word
against my archbishopric."
When the prosecution introduc
ed as “evidence” photographs
showing Archbishop Stepinac in
the company of Pavelic at the op
ening session of the Croat parlia
ment, Archbishop Stepinac said:
“I see no reason not to go to
ceremonies when I am asked. We
all know what such ceremonies
mean. I have been in your par
liament, too, but that does not
mean I approve of your ideology.”
And when the prosecution read
an article describing Archbishop
Stepinac blessing the Ushashi
“Crusaders,” the prelate simply
said: “I give my blessings to all
who ask.
“Does that include criminals,
too?” the court wanted to know.
“Everyone has the right to get
blessings,” the Archbishop said.
In an interview with reporters
at the trial, Bishop Joseph Hurley
declared the proceedings to be of
the greatest importance and ex
pressed the hope that the trial
would be fairly reported. He
called Archbishop Stepinac the
“Mercier of our time,” referring
to the Belgian Cardinal Mercier
who duing World War I gained
fame as defender of the rights of
Belgians against the Germans.
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John Tully Starts
Book Club
A new book club in the Catho
lic field has been organized by
John C. Tully, editor of the mag
aizne “Books on Trial’’.
One of the chief features of
the new club will be the offering
of a wide variety of books from
which its members may choose.
For September there are two
books — Truths Men Live By, by
Rev. John A. O’Brien, Professor
of Religion at the University of
Notre Dame; and The Miracle of
the Bells, a novel by Russell Jan
ney, co-author of the musical
play, The Vagabond King.
Members may take both books
at a considerable saving in cost;
or they may take no book at all.
They agree to buy only four books
a year. If a member takes only
one of the books, this will count
toward a free dividend.
The club is sponsored by the
Thomas More Book Shop, 220 W.
Madison Street, Chicago, which
was founded by Mr. Tully in 1939,
and which has since been instru
mental in helping a number of
book shops in other cities to get
started in business.
“The Thomas More” is a unique
“not for profit” organization
which performs various services
for the benefit of readers. Be
ginning in October, another new
service for dealers and librarians
will get under way. They will be
Supplied at 10-dgy intervals with
appraisals of current books, pre
pared by the Staff of “Books On
Trial”, which now numbers near
ly 100 of the leading Catholic
book-reviewers of the country.
Chicago, Sept. 27.—(NC)—One
of the first releases of the Variety
Record company, soon available
to the public, will be an albtim
entitled “Let Us Pray,” consisting
of the best-loved prayers, and the
circumstances around which they
were written.
Charlotte Named
Convention City
Charlotte has been named 1947
convention city for the Catholic
Committee of the South.
North Carolina carried off all
top honors at the 1946 convention
in New Orleans with the award of
the convention and with two of
the three top lay positions in the
organization going to North Caro
lina laymen.
Edward MacClements, Charotte,
was elected vice chairman of the
Catholic Committee of the South
and John E. Eck, Gastonia, was
re-elected treasurer of the or
ganization.
Chairman is Father Vincent J.
O’Connell, SM, professor of the
ology at Notre Dame seminary in
New Orleans.
Cardinal Samuel Stritch was the
outstanding speaker on the New
Orleans program. He told the
convention that the so-called
“youth problem” was really an
“adult problem.” Cardinal
Stritch decried pessimisrr} that
thought the country might go
Communist. “Why should we
change our way of living for
something inferior?” he asked. He
said there was more sound think
ing in this country today than ev
er before. He praised the prog
ress made by labor, said it was in
surance against Communism.
Monsignor T. James McNamara,
chairman of the committee’s de
partment of racial relations, said,
“The Catholic Church does not
allow pigmentation to determine
its attitude.” He said that all
men' are of one family, said race
prejudice was wrong.
Father Vincent O’Connell,
chairman. of the department of
labor and industry, said organiza
tion of labor is “not a necessary
evil but a necessary good.”
Archbishop Robert E. Lucey,
San Antonio, urged formation of
discossioa groups to fight against
racial injustice.
^ A