Catholic Church in Croatia during the process of renewing relations between Yugoslavia and the Vatican

Odmah po nastanku druge Jugoslavije 1945. godine, nova vlast nije imala dobre odnose s Katoličkom Crkvom. Uhićen je i osuđen nadbiskup Alojzije Stepinac, a nakon što je papa dodijelio Stepincu titulu kardinala 1952., Jugoslavija je odlučila raskinuti diplomatske veze sa Svetom Stolicom. Do promjena dolazi u 60-im godinama kad se odnosi polako popravljaju. Poboljšanju odnosa pridonijela je s državne strane liberalizacija u Jugoslaviji, a s crkvene promjene koje uzrokuje Drugi vatikanski koncil. Prvi razgovori između Jugoslavije i Vatikana započeli su tijekom 1964. godine. Neke novosti su se vidjele i u svakodnevnom životu. Jedan od primjera je i početak izlaženja crkvenog glasila Glasa koncila od 1962. Dugotrajni proces pregovora zaključen je potpisivanjem Protokola, 26. lipnja 1966. u Beogradu. Tim je sporazumom definiran odnos Crkve i Jugoslavije. Država je zajamčila slobodu vjeroipovijesti, jednakost svih religija i sekularnost, Katolička Crkva je dobila slobodu u vršenju vjerskih poslova te joj je priznata ovlast Vatikana nad Katoličkom Crkvom u Jugoslaviji po duhovnim pitanjima. Dok je Sveta Stolica garantirala da kler neće svoje crkvene položaje i utjecaj koristiti za političke stvari te su nasilje i terorizam, vezan uz politiku, osuđeni. Tijekom narednih godina odnos između dvije strane se polako popravljao, što je vidljivo iz slijedećih primjera. Tako je od 1966. u trgovinama bilo moguće kupiti ploče na kojima su bile božićne pjesme. U Zagrebu je dopuštena gradnja nove crkve u kvartu Siget. Biblija je prevedena na hrvatski 1968. godine. Kao vrhunac se ističe 1970. kad su ponovno obnovljeni diplomatski odnosi te godina kasnije kad je Tito posjetio papu Pavla VI. u Vatikanu.Right after the establishment of the second Yugoslavia in 1945, the new government did not have good relations with the Catholic Church. Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac was arrested and convicted, and after the pope awarded Stepinac the title of cardinal in 1952, Yugoslavia decided to sever diplomatic ties with the Holy See. Changes occur in the 60s when relations are slowly improving. Liberalization in Yugoslavia contributed to the improvement of relations on the state side, and on the ecclesiastical side changes brought by the Second Vatican Council. The first talks between Yugoslavia and the Vatican began in 1964. Some improvements was also seen in everyday life. One of the examples is the beginning of the publication of the church newspaper Glas Koncila in 1962. The long process of negotiations was concluded with the signing of the Protocol on June 26, 1966 in Belgrade. This agreement defined church-state relationship. The state guaranteed freedom of creed, equality of all religions and secularism, the Church was given liberty in the conduct of religious affairs and the Yugoslav government accepted Vatican authority over the Catholic Church in Yugoslavia on spiritual matters. While the Holy See guaranteed that the clergy would not use theirs positions and influence for political matters, also political-related violence and terrorism were condemned. Over the following years, the relationship between the two sides slowly improved, as can be seen from the following examples. Thus, since 1966, it has been possible to buy records with Christmas songs in stores. In Zagreb, the construction of a new church in the Siget neighborhood was allowed. The Bible was translated into Croatian in 1968. The highlight point was in 1970, when diplomatic relations were restored, and a year later, Tito visited Pope Paul VI in the Vatican