Glasnik: The Official Newspaper of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate on the Concordat of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Holy See, Signed in 1935

Abstract

By means of basic scientific methods – analysis and synthesis – the materials of the «Glasnik: The Official Newspaper of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate» on the Concordat, which the Yugoslav Minister of Justice Ludevit Auer and representatives of the Holy See signed in Rome on July 25, 1935, are analyzed. The article examines the texts published in the «Bulletin» since November 23, 1936, when Prime Minister Milan Stojadinović at a government meeting officially announced the transfer of the Concordat for ratification to the People's Assembly – the lower house of the People's Representation. Ratification was to take place before the end of the parliamentary session on July 24, 1937. The focus is on opinions, positions and assessments of the provisions of the Concordat, which, according to their functions, are divided into organizational, regulatory, material, personnel and others. The above determined the organizational framework and the nature of the functioning of the Roman Catholic Church as an organization and institution in the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The authors of the Bulletin expressed fears that the church's activities would acquire a pronounced missionary character, that it would freely and publicly carry out its religious mission in relation to a non-confessional environment, namely, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, in which several denominations were represented, and in which Catholics did not constitute the majority of the population. This threatened to strengthen clericalism as an instrument of anti-Yugoslav policy, as well as the establishment of the hegemony of the Holy See. The policy could lead to serious political clashes and endanger peace and tranquility in the country.

Received 24 September 2024

Revised 25 November 2024

Accepted 10 December 2024

For citation: Bajagić, D. R., 2024. Glasnik: The Official Newspaper of the Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate on the Concordat of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and the Holy See, Signed in 1935. Slavic World in the Third Millennium, 19 (3–4), pp. 67–95. https://doi.org/10.31168/2412-6446.2024.19.3-4.04