Maurice Feltin, Cardinal of Paris
"As early as 1937 he was at the head of a relief organisation for the Jews who, persecuted by the National Socialists, sought refuge in Yugoslavia He never stopped protesting most strongly against all forms of terrorism, whoever might be the perpetrators. This was his response to the cry for justice in the war-torn world, a response in perfect harmony with human aspirations" (Nikolic, 1980, p. 193).
Originally posted by ivanhoen Stepinac
Dr Isidor M. Emanuel, Bishop of Speyer:
"...Cardinal Stepinac has moved into eternity, and with him one of the best people of our century. When I received the news about his death, just one thought occurred to me: a saint has died" (Bauer, 1979, p. 174).
Found guilty of treason relating to his recognition of the NDH before Yugoslav armed forces had surrendered on October 11, 1946 before exclusively Catholic judges. Sentence of hard labor commuted to house arrest. Pope Pius XII named him Cardinal in captivity.
Remember Hitler's pope?
Cardinal Stepinac, 1938:
"On Sunday, December 11 of this year, on the day of parliamentary elections, the Radio Station of the Central Press Bureau of the Ministerial Council's Presidency reported, in a programme broadcast also by other radio stations in the country, that I had voted for the list of the Yugoslav Radical Union. To my demand that they broadcast my rebuttals, they responded with the same statement Since they have not done this until today, I am compelled to state publicly that the above news of the Belgrade Radio Station is completely false. My conscience told me to vote for the list which represented the aspirations of the Croatian people for justice and freedom, to which it has the right as all other peoples. And I did so" (Benigar 1974, pp. 210-211).
Cardinal Stepinac, 1939:
"The basic law of a just and honourable peace is a guarantee of the right to life and independence of all nations, large and small, strong and weak. The will to life of one nation must not be a death sentence for the other" (paraphrasing Pope Pius XII, Hrvatska revija, June 1985, p. 200).
Cardinal Stepinac, 1942:
"There is no doubt that one of the most beautiful features of the Croatian people in the past was its striving to harmonise its life with the principles of the truth revealed by God. Not only when it could make a profit of it, but also in the times when it was a bitter pill to swallow The entire Croatian people today expects the same of this Croatian Parliament. Let it pass just laws which are not in conflict with God's laws and thus insure the blessings of God the Creator Let it pass equitable laws; let everybody enjoy equal rights for equal obligations. Let it pass workable laws, lest the people be weighed down by burdens it cannot endure." (on the occasion of the opening of the Croatian Parliament on 23 February 1942, Glasnik Srca Isusova i Marijina, Salzburg, April 1962, p. 91).
Cardinal Stepinac, 1942:
"It is not surprising at all that many people wonder what differences there are between Bolshevik camps and our own. Can the Ustasha movement count on God's blessing if it denies to the dying that which not a single state has denied so far?" (from a protest letter to the Interior Minister, Dr Andrija Artukovic, dated 22 September 1942, Cavalli 1947, p. 170)
Cardinal Stepinac, 1943:
" I also ask you in the name of humanity, which our people have always respected, not to allow any longer that any member of this state unjustly suffers. In concentration camps there are many innocent people who did not deserve such a severe punishment Sins against the natural law in the name of people and state take their revenge on the state and people themselves.
"In Italy there are tens of thousands of our innocent people from Gorski Kotar, Primorje and Dalmatia, penned in concentration camps, mostly women and children. Hunger, disease and hardship of all kinds are the cause of so many deaths among these unfortunate people. President, do not allow irresponsible elements and those with no mandate to do any more harm to the true good of our people" (from a protest letter to the president, Dr A. Pavelic, 6 March 1943, Cavalli 1947, p. 126).
The New York Times, (C L Sulzberger), 15 February 1960:
"On November 10, 1950, I visited him in his cell in the Lepoglava prison, where Tito too had been incarcerated when Yugoslavia was a kingdom. Stepinac, a pale, patient and dauntless man, was reading a work by an Irish Franciscan while I was entering the cell, accompanied by six members of the secret police in the cavalry boots. Paying no heed to my escort, he told me quietly in French: `I am ready at any moment to die for the Church. I am totally indifferent to the prospect of my freedom If Marshal Tito wants to set me free, he has to talk to the Holy See. The Catholic Church cannot be a slave of anybody, nor of any state.'"
Samuel Stritich, Cardinal of Chicago:
"Good Friday was followed by Easter. By the same token, the time of tyranny and persecution will pass, in accordance with Divine Providence. Croatia too will live to see its Easter! When that time comes we will better understand the greatness of Cardinal Stepinac, of the priests, bishops and peoples who remained true to Christ, just as we better understand the greatness and miracle of Christ on the cross on Good Friday, when we view it in the light of Easter" (Nikolic, 1980, p. 200).
Ivan Metrovic, sculptor:
"His death will make his torturers shudder, when they see that he is a more dangerous opponent to them from the grave than during his imprisonment. They will not be plagued by Stepinac who prayed for them, but by their guilty conscience due to the wrongs they did to him and the consequences which accompany sins." (Nikolic, 1980, p. 49.).
Alfredo Cifuentes, a Chilean archbishop:
"His executioners wanted to annihilate him, but they crowned him with the martyr's halo instead. They meant to obliterate his name, and they made him immortal Stepinac died for his persecutors. For us and the whole Catholic world, his immortal life of glory and victory has started - because a martyr has ascended into heaven." (El Diario Illustrado, Santiago de Chile, 16 February 1960).
Alan Horic, writer:
"Centuries of self-denial and hardship have to pass before a nation can produce such an unblemished figure, a shining example to the entire world. Stepinac was the victim of his Croatian and Catholic convictions And we Muslims saw in him an example of religious consistency" (Hrvatski glas, Winnipeg, 29 February 1960).
Cardinal Franjo Kuharic:
"Through personal suffering he experienced the drama and tragic of each man, independently of his racial, national or religious affiliation. He gave witness to this universal love, drawn from his faith in Jesus Christ and the Gospel, in his concrete acts of charity and in his intervention to alleviate the suffering. He interceded bravely and determinedly on behalf of those persecuted, jailed and tortured, without regard to whence the evil came. He demanded of every government that courts be just, laws humane, and its actions humane"(Nikolic, 1980, p. 154).