 | |
 Croatia |  Holy See |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Croatian embassy inRome | Holy See nunciature inZagreb |
| Envoy | |
| Neven Pelicarić | Giuseppe Pinto |
Croatia–Holy See relations refer to thebilateral relationship betweenCroatia and theHoly See. Diplomatic relations among the two countries were established on February 8, 1992, following Croatia's independence fromSFR Yugoslavia, although they date far back in history.
According to the 2011 census, 86.28% of Croatia's 4,5 million people declared themselves Roman Catholics.
Pope Alexander III (1177) andPope Pius VII (1800) were the first popes to visit Croatian territories, whilePope John Paul II was the first pope to visit the Republic of Croatia (1994).
According to the workDe Administrando Imperio written by the 10th-century Byzantine EmperorConstantine VII, theCroats had arrived in what is today Croatia in the early 7th century AD. Croats had first contact with the Holy See in year 641 when the papal envoyAbbot Martin came to them in order to redeem Christian captives and the bones of the martyrs that Croats were keeping, as well as to evangelize the Croats, and to turn them from paganism.[1]
According to emperor Constantine, Croats made a pact withPope Agatho (678-681) in which they agreed not to attack neighboring nations or lead any conquest wars, while the Pope promised them that they would be protected by God andSaint Peter in return. Since emperor Constantine did not mention the Pope's name, historians have different opinions about the agreement. Some, likeFranjo Rački,Nada Klaić, andTadija Smičiklas, consider it to be fake, while others, likeFerdo Šišić, believed that it is legitimate mostly due to the style of writing which matches with that of theRoman Curia. Šišić believed that this event took place in the 9th century during the reign ofDuke Branimir. According to other sources, the Pope addressed Slavs as the converted people, so Stjepan Krizin Sakač believed that Croats indeed made an agreement with Pope Agatho in year 679.[2][3]
In the year 879, Croatian dukeBranimir wrote a letter toPope John VIII in which he promised him loyalty and obedience. Pope John VIII replied with a letter on June 7, 879, in which he wrote that he celebrated a Mass at the tomb of St. Peter at which he invoked God's blessing on Branimir and his (Croatian) people. In year 925 Croatian KingTomislav was corresponding withPope John X on the occasion of the firstChurch Council of Split. The Pope's letter to King Tomislav is the first international document in which a Croatian ruler was calledrex (king), so that is why Tomislav is considered to be the first Croatian king.[4]
On March 13, 1177,Pope Alexander III became the first pope to visit Croatian territories. Pope Alexander visitedPalagruža,Vis,Zadar andRab. He entered Zadar on a white horse, and was welcomed by a huge crowd that was singing songs inCroatian. He bowed before the relics ofSaint Anastasia. This was documented on the memorial plaque in theZadar Cathedral. In Rab, the Pope dedicated the Cathedral. This visit, during which he stayed in Zadar for three days, occurred because of a storm that occurred while he was on his way to theRepublic of Venice where he signed an agreement with the Holy Roman EmperorFrederick I.[5]
During theCroatian–Ottoman Wars that lasted from the 15th to 19th century Croats strongly fought against theTurks which resulted in the fact that the westernmost border of theOttoman Empire andEurope became entrenched on the soil of theCroatian Kingdom. In 1519, Croatia was called theAntemurale Christianitatis byPope Leo X.[6]
After 1527, Croatia was part of theAustrian Empire, which signed aconcordat with theHoly See in 1855 regulating the Catholic Church within the empire.[7]
In 1918, Croatia become part of theKingdom of Yugoslavia. Negotiations on the concordat between the Kingdom and the Holy See were led in 1936 by the YugoslavMinister of Justice Ljudevit Auer and Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (who later becomePope Pius XII). Negotiations were eventually terminated due to opposition by theSerbian Orthodox Church which claimed that the Catholic Church would be privileged. So the Catholic Church remained the only religious community in the Kingdom which did not have regularized relations with the state.[8] During this period,Stjepan Radić, leader of theCroatian Peasant Party, heavily criticized Catholic clergy, and advocated establishment of the Indigenous Croatian Catholic Church and its separation from the Holy See.
In 1941, theNazi puppet state, so-calledIndependent State of Croatia (NDH), was established by thefascistdictatorAnte Pavelić and hisUstaše movement. The regime pursued agenocidal policy against theSerbs (who wereEastern Orthodox Christians),Jews,Romani, and many others. HistorianMichael Phayer wrote that the creation of the NDH was initially welcomed by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and by many Catholic priests mostly because Pavelić was pro-Catholic, viewingCatholicism as an integral part ofCroat culture which the Church saw as an opportunity to strengthen its position.[9] British writerPeter Hebblethwaite wrote that Pavelić was anxious to get diplomatic relations and a Vatican blessing for the new Catholic state but that "neither was forthcoming" because the Holy See has been linked to its traditional practice of not recognizing newly created entities during wartime. However,Edmond Paris notes thatAloysius Stepinac wanted Croatia's independence from the Serb dominated Yugoslavia which he considered to be "the jail of the Croatian nation" so he arranged an audience between Pavelić and Pope Pius XII. Paris stated that in Stepinac's journal,Aloysius Stepinac on August 3 noted that the Holy Seevia facti recognised the NDH.[10]
After theSecond World War, Croatia become part of thecommunist-governedSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. At first, president and marshalJosip Broz Tito tried to break the centuries-long link between Croatia and the Holy See by offeringArchbishop Stepinac a Croatian national church but Stepinac refused, which eventually resulted in attacks on the bishops in the summer of 1952. Pope Pius XII, wishing to pay tribute to archbishop Stepinac for his faithfulness, elevated him to theCollege of Cardinals in 1953, which triggered a reaction from the Yugoslav government. SFR Yugoslavia cut diplomatic relations with the Holy See, accusing it of interfering in internal state affairs.[11] Stepinac was put on trial and eventually found guilty for his cooperation with the Nazi occupiers during the WWII. The Holy See reacted byexcommunicating President Tito and some other officials who participated in the trial.[12]
After 13 years, on June 25, 1966, SFR Yugoslavia and the Holy See signed theProtocol by which the two states established very limited relations on the level of government delegates to the Holy See and an Apostolic delegate with the function of envoy to Yugoslavia. This Protocol did not made it possible to sign a concordat or any other legal document that would regulate relations between church and state. It, among other things, stated that "the Catholic Church, in its religious framework, cannot misuse its religious and church functions in order for it to have a political character."[13] On August 15, 1970, Yugoslavia and the Holy See established diplomatic relations at the level of ambassadors. Yugoslavia became the first socialist republic with whom the Holy See established diplomatic relations following the more liberal direction it took after theSecond Vatican Council.
In March 1971, president Tito visited the Holy See andPope Paul VI, thus becoming the first leader of a socialist republic to come to the Holy See on official visit. Vatican dailyL'Osservatore Romano addressed words of welcome to the President on its front page with the words "Greetings President Tito". According to the Croatian diplomat and Vatican analyst Vjekoslav Cvrlje who served as a first Ambassador of Yugoslavia to the Holy See, President Tito was given special attention by the Pope. When Tito arrived at theCiampino Airport he was greeted by CardinalGiovanni Benelli and many other senior Vatican officials. During his address to the Pope, Tito said: "Your Holiness, I'm especially pleased to have this opportunity to meet with you and to convey to you the assurance of a high respect from the people and government of Yugoslavia."[14][15]
The highest ranking Croatian prelate in the Holy See was cardinalFranjo Šeper who served as aPrefect of theCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1968 to 1981.
After Croatia declared independence from SFR Yugoslavia in June 1991 due to a series of political upheavals and conflicts within the Federation, the Holy See, namelyPope John Paul II, become one of the most keen advocates of Croatian recognition by the international community. Although the Holy See is cautious in recognizing new states, it announced on October 3, 1991, that its diplomacy was working actively on Croatian international recognition. On December 20, 1991, the Holy See announced its intentions to recognize Croatia as an independent state.[16] On November 21, 1992,Angelo Sodano,Cardinal Secretary of State, gave to the ambassadors of the member states of theOrganization for Security and Co-operation in Europe to the Holy See aMemorandum in which the Holy See urged their countries to recognize Croatia as soon as possible.[17] The Holy See officially recognized Croatia as an independent state on January 13, 1992, thus becoming the fifth fully independent country to do so.
Pope John Paul II become the first pope to visit theRepublic of Croatia. This was on September 10, 1994, during the period of theCroatian War of Independence. On September 11, the Pope led theEucharistic celebration inZagreb in front of about a million people on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the establishment of theArchdiocese of Zagreb. He also officially opened and blessed the building of the Apostolic Nunciature in Zagreb. John Paul visited Croatia two more times; from October 2 to 4, 1998, during which he canonized Cardinal Stepinac at the Eucharistic celebration in the Croatian National shrine ofMarija Bistrica, in front of about 500 thousand people, and he later celebrated Mass on the occasion of the 1700th anniversary of the city ofSplit; from June 5 to 9, 2003, during which he visitedKrk,Rijeka,Zadar,Dubrovnik,Osijek, andĐakovo. He left with words: "I greet you beloved Croatian people! Thank you young Croatians as well. May God bless you, Croatian land! God bless you! May God continue to bless and protect Croatia! It will always have a privileged place in my love and in my prayers!"[18] ThenPope Benedict XVI visitedZagreb, Croatia, from June 4 to 5, 2011.[19]
Croatia and the Holy See signed four concordats. The first is about cooperation in the field of education and culture; ratified on January 24, 1997; the second is about spiritual guidance of Catholics who are members of the Croatian armed forces and police, ratified on January 24, 1997; the third is about legal matters, ratified on February 9, 1997; the fourth is about economic cooperation, ratified on December 4, 1998. These concordats have allowed the Catholic Church to provide religious education in state primary and secondary schools, establish Catholic schools, conduct pastoral care among Catholics in the armed forces and police, and to get financed from the state budget. As regards to financing, the Church has received the following amounts of money over the last decade: 2001, 461.3 million kunas; 2004-2007, 532 million kunas; 2008-2011, 475.5 million kunas; 2012–2013, 523.5 million kunas; plus around 200 million kunas each year for teachers of religious studies in schools, and around 60 million kunas for maintenance of churches which are considered to be a cultural heritage.[20] These contracts, in particular the fourth one, triggered numerous critics.
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