ČAGLIĆ EPISODE – A CONTRIBUTION TO THE BIOGRAPHY OF JOSIP BUTURAC

U radu autor – na temelju arhivskoga gradiva, relevantne periodike te postojeće literature – analizira svećeničko djelovanje dr. Josipa Buturca, istaknutoga hrvatskog povjesničara te javnog radnika. Buturac je, naime, u razdoblju 1931.–1934. bio na mjestu upravitelja župe u Čagliću, nedaleko od Pakraca u Slavoniji. U svom djelovanju Buturac je nailazio na mnoge teškoće: od materijalne zapuštenosti župe, sukoba s bivšim čaglićkim župnikom, netrpeljivosti lokalnih upravnih i prosvjetnih vlasti, pokušaja širenja starokatolicizma do religiozne indiferentnosti tamošnjega hrvatskog seljaštva. U konačnici, službovanje u čaglićkoj župi imalo je velikog utjecaja na kasniji Buturčev rad.Catholic priest Josip Butorac was appointed to the parish of Čaglić in 1931, exactly in the period when the general political circumstances started to influence his priestly work. Namely, the extra parliamentary regime of King Alexander Karađorđević greatly was engraved with an anti-Catholic unifying Jugoslavism, which was just concealed continuation of the previous Serbization policy. In such circumstances Butorac, as a Catholic priest with the task of renovation in the Catholic spirit, came in charge of the Parish Čaglić, where the majority of population were Orthodox believers. Moreover, since he tried to stop expansion of the Old Catholic Church ideas in his parish, Butorac soon came in conflict with the local civil authorities. Still, Butorac managed to win this battle, since the Old Catholic Church did not expand in Čaglić during his administration, though Butorac has not succeeded to overthrow it completely. Furthermore, Butorac had to face consequences of the sloppy work of his predecessor, priest Ivan Vlašićak, that had resulted with religious indifference of the local not numerous Catholic believers. Consequently, Butorac did not have enough strength to successfully oppose educational Serbization of the Catholic pupils, especially since he was the only one who has tried to make a difference in Čaglić parish in this field. Therefore, this period in Čaglić offered to Butorac a possibility to choose between the struggle in his priestly work and a peaceful academic research; and in such circumstances Butorac chose the latter