Vatican City, Jul 18, 2017 / 09:02 am
A commission of Catholic and Orthodox leaders tasked with examining the wartime record of Bl. Aloysius Stepinac concluded their final session last week, agreeing to disagree about the Croatian cardinal's cause for canonization.
The Secretariat of the Holy See prepared a joint statement, adopted by both sides, at the conclusion of the commission's sixth and final round of meetings at the Vatican July 12-13.
The document states that the opinions of either side remain unchanged, but also acknowledges that ultimately the competency for approval of the cardinal's cause falls under Pope Francis.
"It has come to the conclusion that various events, speeches, writings, silences, and views are still subject to different interpretations. In the case of Cardinal Stepinac, the interpretations that were predominantly given by Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs remain divergent," it states.