The head of the Austrian Bishops' Conference, Christoph Schönborn, called on Friday for talks with Croatian bishops to discuss the controversial annual commemoration at the southern Austrian border town of Bleiburg, after a local diocese recently refused to allow Croatian priests to celebrate mass on the site.

Schönborn, who has served as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Vienna since 1995 and is the president of Austria’s Bishops’ Conference, was asked by N1 reporter Hrvoje Kresic to comment on the request by Croatian bishops to hold a mass at this year’s commemoration at Bleiburg anyway.

“That topic was broached, Archbishop (Zelimir) Puljic wrote to me, and then we discussed it at length over the phone. I reminded him that it’s for the local diocese to make that decision. This is not within the purview of the Bishops’ Conference – which is different from the situation in Croatia, where the event is sponsored by the Croatian Parliament and the service organised by the Croatian Bishops’ Conference. In Austria, this is under the legal jurisdiction of the Diocese of Gurt-Klagenfurt,” Schönborn said, confirming he had talked about Bleiburg with the head of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Zelimir Puljic.

The event, held every year in May, regularly attracts thousands of Croatians who gather at the site to commemorate the mass killings of soldiers and civilians loyal to the World War II fascist Ustashe regime, which were committed by the communist Partisans in the closing days of the war in 1945.

Prominent members of the Croatian Catholic clergy and some mainstream Croatian politicians also commonly attend the event. However, over the years it also became popular with Croatian far-right and right-wing groups.

“What is needed here is a culture of processing history. This was a painful period of Croatia’s past, which left many thousands people dead. At the same time, the history is complicated. I am from the Czech Republic originally, we were expelled from there, and now, 70-80 years later, we – the Czechs and the expelled Germans – are slowly becoming able to talk about this openly and sincerely. I would be happy if we could initiate a discussion between Austria and Croatia, possibly with historians joining in. That’s what we did with Czechoslovakia – and this resulted in a joint statement signed by Austrian and Czech bishops in Prague,” Schönborn said, referring to the expulsion of his ethnic German family from present-day northern Czech Republic in 1945.

‘Let’s process this difficult history together’

Prior to the fall of communism in Yugoslavia in the early 1990s the commemoration was a low-key event, but has since grown into a large-scale ceremony including an open-air mass held by Croatian priests in a field just outside of town. The event also gained mainstream support, as it is officially sponsored by the Croatian Parliament, which helps financing the ceremony with 500,000 kuna (€67,500).

In April last year, three Austrian MEPs urged the Vienna government to ban the Ustasha symbols often seen openly displayed by people attending the event, and said that the Bleiburg commemoration has become a platform used by “right-wing extremists.”

In May 2018, the commemoration was held with tighter-than-usual police controls. Although few incidents were reported that year, Austria moved to ban Ustasha symbols in February, and introduced fines of up to €10,000 for anyone seen using them.

Earlier this month, the local Catholic diocese in charge of Bleiburg refused to issue a permit for the traditional mass held there, saying that the commemorative event held there is used as a political platform. Croatian bishops vocally opposed the decision, as did state officials including President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, who said she regretted the decision.

Schönborn said on Friday that the differences in opinions between Austrian and Croatian bishops should be resolved through dialogue and consensus, the same way Austrian and Czech bishops had done.

“This situation requires a similar approach. Otherwise, this will forever be locked in confrontation. In Austria, people will still say that this is a fascist event. And in Croatia that this is the history of their forefathers… My suggestion, my proposal for the Croatian Bishops’ Conference and the Croatian Parliament is – let’s process this difficult history together. This is important, as it would prevent certain groups to use this topic for their own means, and neither we nor the Croatian bishops want that,” Schönbornsaid.

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