Religious Conversions from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism and Greek Catholicism in the Archdeaconry of ？azma between 1941 and 1945

Sa？etak The number of converts from Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism during WWII has been discussed for years. The earliest cumulative quantification of Orthodox-to-Catholic conversions in the NDH (Independent State of Croatia) may be found in a report by Pope Pius XII of 1943, which was written by Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac. Although there are still speculations about the total number of Orthodox converts to Roman Catholic faith in the period of WWII, most controversies today are mainly concerned with the nature and ethics of the doctrinal consistency and political opportunity of the conversion itself. During the period in between the wars, the ？azma Archdeaconry consisted of several districts: ？azma, Kutina, Ivani？ Grad, Grubi？no Polje and Gare？nica. According to the census of 1931, less than 14% of the population were Orthodox Christians. The author of the paper researches the conversions form Orthodoxy to Roman Catholicism in the mentioned area during the period between 1941 and 1945. The research is based on the records from archive holdings such as the Archbishop’s Clerical Board of the Archbishop’s Archive in Zagreb, the Ministry of Justice and the NDH Ministry of Justice and Worship at the Croatian State Archive. Based on the list of names of converted persons, i.e. those who filed an application to convert in the area of 23 parishes in the territory of the ？azma Archdeaconry, the author concludes that no fewer than 3,271 Orthodox Christians filed an application to convert to Roman Catholicism, mainly from April 1941 to April 1942. According to the preserved documents from the Archbishop’s Archive in Zagreb and from the Croatian State Archive, the actual number of conversions was even larger; however, no list of names of those who filed an application to convert or of those who underwent conversion is preserved. Such a problem arose in the parish of Mikleu？ka where people converted collectively, in large numbers. In this paper, the author discusses the types of individual conversions. The largest number of religious conversions were made in the area of Miklue？ka, where 751 individuals converted. Vicar ？uri？ from the parish of Kani？ka Iva asked the Archbishop’s Clerical Board for missionaries to help him teach and convert the Orthodox. He demanded at least six more missionaries, two for the villages of Veliko Vukovje, Malo Vukovje, Gojilo and Rogo？a, two for Stupova？a, Brinjani, ？aire and Kutinica, and two for Velika Br？ljanica, a part of Rogo？a and Mala Br？ljanica. The missionaries arrived in the winter of 1941/1942. Vicar ？uri？ compiled a list