Bishop Ivan Bučko and the Independent State of Croatia: Visits of the Ukrainian Bishop to the Eparchy of Križevci in 1942

Pope Pius XII and the Challenge of Totalitarianism in Yugoslavia,1941–1958 (2025) [pp. 99-125]

AUTHOR(S) / АУТОР(И): Milosav Z. Đoković

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DOI: 10.46793/POLITY25.099DJ

ABSTRACT / САЖЕТАК:

Based on Vatican archives, this paper discusses the visits of the Ukrainian Bishop Ivan Bučko to the Independent State of Croatia during 1942. Bučko had to leave the United States in the fall of 1941 due to accusations of being pro-Nazi; and due to his inability to return to his home diocese in Lviv, where he was an auxiliary bishop, the Holy See sent him on two missions, namely two visits to the Eparchy of Križevci. The first was in April 1942 and the second in August of the same year. The missions had a practical function: to convince the authorities that converted Orthodox Christians could freely receive Eastern Rite services in the Catholic Church; to ordain Janko Šimrak as Bishop of the Eparchy of Križevci; and to familiarize himself with the real situation in Croatia. In his reports on his visits to Cardinal Tisserant, Bučko provides detailed and relevant information about the situation in the Independent State of Croatia regarding the massacres of Serbs and Jews, and the participation of the Catholic clergy, especially the Franciscans, in these crimes.

KEYWORDS / КЉУЧНЕ РЕЧИ:

Ivan Bučko, Congregation for the Eastern Church, Independent State of Croatia, Eparchy of Križevci, Ustasha, genocide, Serbs, Jews

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