The Old Catholic Movement in Habjanovci between the two World Wars

Rad obuhvaća analizu geneze, razvoja i slabljenja starokatoličkog pokreta na području župe Brođanci između dvaju svjetskih ratova. To se u prvom redu odnosi na mjesto Habjanovce, filijalu župe Brođanci, gdje je starokatolicizam uhvatio dublje korijene. Niz sporova između brođanačkog župnika Antuna Milfajta i starokatoličkih aktivista uključivao je pitanja korištenja habjanovačke filijalne katoličke crkve za starokatolička bogoslužja i ostale obrede, lokacije i uređenja starokatoličkog groblja te vjerskih prijelaza iz Katoličke crkve u Hrvatsku starokatoličku crkvu, o čemu svjedoči bogata arhivska građa koju je župnik Milfajt sačuvao u Arhivu župe Brođanci. Građa obuhvaća službene dopise, statističke podatke, privatnu korespondenciju i novinske članke, pretežno iz lokalnog tiska. Rekonstrukcija odnosa i sukoba između starokatolika i katolika u Habjanovcima nakon 1936., odnosno odlaska župnika Milfajta iz Brođanaca, nešto je teža, no sukobi su svoju kulminaciju i vrhunac doživjeli tijekom 20-ih godina, dok su 30-ih jenjavali, a pred Drugi svjetski rat gotovo potpuno iščeznuli.The Old Catholic movement in Habjanovci, in the area of the parish of Brođanci, appeared as the result of the emergence and strengthening of the influence of the Croatian Old Catholic Church, established and legalized in 1923, while the Church itself was a result of the development of the reform movement of a part of the lower Catholic clergy in the territory of Croatia known as the “Yellow Movement”. In the territory of Habjanovci intense Old Catholic agitations occurred during the 1920s, and their endeavours at religious conversion, the implementation, occupancy and restructuring of Catholic properties such as the succursal church and the cemetery, encountered fierce resistance from Antun Milfajt, the priest of Brođanci. The Old Catholic activism in Habjanovci in its entirety reduced to anti-Catholic propaganda of indigenous and non-indigenous agitators with the objective of gaining a greater degree of confidence of the population that would make it easier to achieve strategic objectives and to gain positions of power at the local level. Local authorities of the central government tacitly supported them or assisted to some extent by causing delays or making legal illogical or unsubstantiated decisions; ultimately it turned out that in most of the issues the priest Milfajt was on solid ground and the Old Catholic agitations gradually decreased, partly due to his persistent legal struggle. The dynamics of the relations between the Catholics and Old Catholics in the territory of Habjanovci decreased as early as the 1930s and just before World War II it continued to cease, particularly after the priest Milfajt left Brođance in 1936. During this entire period of activism, the Old Catholic parish of Habjanovci was part of the hierarchy of the Croatian Old Catholic Church, and its representatives took part in the work of Church bodies and the Parliament