Churches at odds over sanctity of cardinal

Serbia’s Orthodox Church has requested talks with Catholic leaders on the planned canonisation of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac (1898-1960), who was beatified in 1998 but is still accused by many Serbs of war crimes, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.

The Balkan Insight news agency said the Serbian Orthodox Church’s Holy Synod had appointed a commission under Metropolitan Porfirije Peric of Zagreb-Ljubljana “to lead a dialogue with the Vatican” on Stepinac’s wartime record. However, it added that Serbia’s President, Tomislav Nikolic, had warned during a late-May Belgrade meeting with Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, that declaring Stepinac a saint could “wreck moves to improve relations”.

Stepinac was declared blessed by Pope John Paul II in October 1998.  Croatia’s president, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, said Pope Francis had assured her during talks at the Vatican two weeks ago that he had “no doubt” about Stepinac’s sanctity.