Stepinac: His Life and Times

by Robin Harris

For the last seventy years--ever since his show-trial in 1946--Alojzije Stepinac, Cardinal Archbishop of Zagreb, has been the subject of controversy. In this book, Robin Harris explores recently available original sources, including Secret Police files stored in the Croatian State Archives, to find out the truth. Stepinac led the Catholic Church in Croatia during dangerous times. As a young, untested Archbishop, he confronted authoritarian rule under the First Yugoslavia. After the Axis Powers invaded in 1941, he struggled to steer the right course through the bloody chaos of the Second World War. For the last years of his life, in prison and then interned in the parish where he was born, he inspired the Croatian Catholic resistance to Communist persecution. Stepinac shared the fate of other Church leaders, like Cardinal Mindszenty of Hungary, who were vilified and imprisoned by the new Communist rulers of Eastern Europe. But the campaign against him, originated by the Communist Party, was, and still is, exceptionally ferocious and persistent. Accused of complicity with War-time atrocities, the Zagreb Archbishop's role in this period is also important in the wider arguments about that of Pope Pius XII. Stepinac often had limited room for manoeuvre. A deeply spiritual man and never regarding politics as his metier, he had to calculate the best way to save lives when violence threatened, and to preserve the Faith--and loyalty to the Holy See--when Tito worked to destroy both. Pope Saint John Paul II beatified Stepinac in 1998. The canonisation was announced as imminent--until the leadership of the Serbian Orthodox Church protested to Pope Francis. This book should ensure that a full and objective assessment of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac can be made.

Genres: History, Christianity, Biography

409 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Robin Harris studied at Oxford University, won the Gibbs Prize, and obtained a DPhil in modern history. In the 1980s he served in various political and governmental capacities, including as a member of Margaret Thatcher's Number Ten Policy Unit, and in later years turned to free-lance journalism and to writing works of history and biography.

Among his books are Valois Guyenne: A Study of Politics, Government and Society in Late Medieval France (1994), Dubrovnik – A History (2003), The Conservatives – A History (2011), Not for Turning – The Life of Margaret Thatcher (2013), Stepinac – His Life and Times (2016). He now lives in Zagreb and is currently writing a history of modern Croatia.

Reviews

[Irena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am pleasantly suprised how objectively and accurately this is written considering the writer isn't Croatian and probably had to put much effort and collect a lot of information in order to understand our history, mentality and the struggles of our nation through centuries, to preserve our freedom and Catholic faith, and also our language, culture and customs as a small nation. Totalitarian regimes of NDH and Yugoslavia had many victims and brought a lot of sufferings, but this was also a test of one's character living during these times.

Bl. Alojzije Stepinac stayed firm and consistent with his beliefs during his whole life , not compromising with fasizm and communism, and that was a problem for these political parties. He was, and still is, a victim of propaganda and slander which is sad, but Croatians are proud to claim him as our protector. Stepinac represents the one thing that lacks the most in today's society and that is having a character. He proved with his life that he loved Christ, Church and Croatia above all, so he is very dear to our hearts.

[Joseph Raborg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really awesome biography. Croatia had the unenviable fate of living through an authoritarian (the Kingdom of Yugoslavia) and two totalitarian regimes (Nazism and Communism) during the 20th century. Bl. Alojzije Stepinac was bishop of Zagreb during the end of the first and the beginning of the last until his death in 1960.

Harris’s biography of the man does much to dispel the communist propaganda slandering Stepinac’s good name. It reveals how forthrightly the bishop fought for the rights of Croatians and condemned murder and injustice committed by both the Ustache and Tito’s regime. Many thousands of Serbs and Jews owe their lives to Stepinac’s intervention. This biography is very detailed and full of footnotes; yet, it manages to be very readable at the same time.

Thank God for giving us such a great and holy exemplar of Christian virtue! May the day come soon when he can be venerated across the world as St. Alojzije Stepinac!

[Tyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book certainly achieves its purpose in vindicating Cardinal Stepinac from the lies spread by the Communist Party. Harris reveals the deep humanity of Stepinac and his struggles in plotting the right course of action in very turbulent times. A real man of admirable faith and courage who shows that Christ is always the focus and we must learn to share his message in every political system and under oppression. The pronunciation guide was great but I wish I had noticed the dramatis personae sooner, as I found following individuals rather difficult. Some important ones also seem to have been left out, although Wikipedia sufficed. A knowledge of Croatia would have been useful, but the book is readable and graspable without it.

[Michael Seselja · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great apologetic work on the great Cardinal, not painting him as perfect but defending him from a lot of the slander that he faced after World War 2. I think the modern man finds it almost impossible to comprehend what it would have been like being in the middle of a war between two evil totalitarian ideologies with no “good guys” in sight.

[Καιρὸς · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about a great soon to be Saint. Blessed Stepinac pray for us.