Source: Church Times
September 2, 2022
Bp. Gerasim of Upper Karlovac celebrated the feast of the Child-Martyrs of Jastrebarsko on July 13. Photo: eparhija-gornjokarlovacak.hr
ROMAN CATHOLIC bishops in Croatia have accused the Serbian Orthodox Church of spreading “communist propaganda”, after the Orthodox Church canonised a group of children allegedly killed by RCs during the Second World War.
“No one has a right to overlook the pain of these children — but no one has a right to use their tragedy for narrow goals far from any compassion or commitment to justice,” bishops of the archdiocese of Zagreb, in Serbia, told the Patriarch Porfirije of Serbia in an open letter.
“It is especially painful to see the continuation of ideological propaganda from the period of Yugoslav Communist totalitarianism, in which doctors, medical staff, and nuns, as well as benefactors and foster parents, are portrayed as the worst criminals.”
The letter, co-signed by Cardinal Josip Bozanić, was sent after the assignment by the Orthodox Holy Synod of a feast day in honour of seven “holy martyr children”, who died in concentration camps at Jastrebarsko and Sisak.
The letter said that Bishop Gerasim (Popović) of Gornji Karlovac had submitted material on the “terrible and unprecedented torture of innocent children” at camps under the management of RC priests and nuns. It had not provided documentary evidence or properly identify the perpetrators.
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