13. Sharing the
Spoils
After the liberation of Yugoslavia the
official War Crimes Commission established that one part of the Catholic clergy
had used the Ustashi terror not only to force the Eastern Orthodox Serbs to
accept the Roman faith, but also to obtain possession of the property of the
Orthodox Church. This is how it was done.
In June, 1941, the Ustashi
Prime Minister issued a decree, No. 11689, which set up an "Office on Religious
Affairs." This office was in charge of "all matters pertaining to questions
connected with the conversion of the members of the Eastern Orthodox Church."
Pavelic appointed his intimate friend, priest Dionizije Juricev, as Chief of the
Religious Office. Juricev was a member of the Franciscan order, and one of the
oldest sworn members of the Ustashi. He had shared exile with Pavelic. The
transfer of confiscated property of the Eastern Orthodox Church to the Roman
Catholics was made in a "legal" manner through the Office of Religious Affairs.
Rich monasteries, valuable real estate, many Orthodox Churches and a great
volume of religious art and treasure thus passed to the Roman Church. The
greatest share went to the Order of the Franciscans, who had played a leading
part in extermination of the Serbs. In 1941 Pavelic gave to the Franciscan
Province of St. Cyril and Methodius in Zagreb the great estate of the Serbian
Orthodox Church in Pakrac. The Franciscans moved into the building of the Pakrac
Serbian Bishop and from there managed the estate. On October 29, 1941, Pavelic
gave the property of the Serbian church in Gospic to the Franciscans of Zagreb.
According to a letter from the Ordinariat of the Bishopric of Djakovo
No. 2733/942 of June 8, 1942, twenty-eight Serbian churches had been changed
into Catholic churches by that time in the territory of that Bishopric alone.
Archbishop Stepinac himself petitioned Dr. Pavelic to permit the
Trappist monks to take over the Serbian Orthodox Monastery in Orahovica, which
was confiscated by the Ustashi authorities. A photostat copy of this petition,
dated September 3, 1941, bearing the signature of Archbishop Stepinac, is
reproduced on pages 80-81.
Much of the loot, including art objects,
church articles, gold and precious stones, was never recovered. One incident in
particular must be mentioned. After the liberation of Zagreb, Yugoslav
authorities found in the crypt of the Franciscan monastery on the Kaptol in
Zagreb -- very close to the Archbishop's quarters -- 36 boxes of gold which had
been stolen from victims of the Ustashi. Among the articles were watches,
bracelets, earrings, gold teeth, pendants, etc. These boxes were concealed under
the bones of long-dead Franciscans. The gold was hidden, it was later
established, by the priest Radoslav Glavas acting in agreement with the head of
the Franciscans, Modest Martincic, and the head of the Monastery Father Klemen
and with the knowledge of Archbishop Stepinac.
NEXT: Conspiracy Against the Yugoslav Republic
THE CASE OF ARCHBISHOP STEPINAC
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