VICTIMOLOGY SOCIETY HEAD REJECTS WIESENTHAL CENTRE DEMANDS

( Editorial: --> 3772 ) ZAGREB, Sept 28 (Hina) - Croatian Victimology Society president Zvonimir Separovic has dismissed as "absurd" demands by the Paris branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre (SWC) that this weekend's beatification of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac be postponed. "As a martyr of the Croatian nation, Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac spent years in Communist imprisonment because of devotion to his vocation," Separovic told a press conference in Zagreb on Monday. "That is why it is absurd that the Paris SWC has maliciously expressed doubt in the correctness of the procedure in declaring Stepinac blessed." The SWC's Paris branch last week called on the Vatican to postpone the beatification of Cardinal Stepinac, which will be held this Saturday in a ceremony at the shrine of Marija Bistrica (just north of Zagreb). Separovic said the demand was not only maliciously directed against Cardinal Stepinac, but also against the Catholic Church and the Pope himself. He said the renown American Jewish leader Louis Braire had considered Cardinal Stepinac as the greatest defender of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe. Jews do not have exclusive rights to victims, because the Croatian people have also experienced suffering, Separovic assessed. Publicist Ljubica Stefan, author of the book "Stepinac and the Jews", believes that the demand was the latest in a series of attacks by several Jewish organisations on the Croatian people and state and the Catholic Church among Croats. "Obstacles are being placed in promoting the truth about Cardinal Stepinac and the Croatian people, which were at the forefront in helping the Jewish people, but the Jewish Community in Zagreb and the Coordination of Jewish Communities is remaining silent on this," she said. Jesuit Vladimir Horvat, one of the instigators of the move for Yad Vashem to declare Cardinal Stepinac "righteous among nations" for his deeds in protecting the Jewish nation during World War II, said Cardinal Stepinac, as one of the strongest and most determined fighters for justice, was first in the line of fire from the Communist authorities. "The Serb lobby and Masons in France have created a negative public opinion of Cardinal Stepinac as a collaborator with the (World War II) Independent State of Croatia," he said. Cardinal Stepinac's beatification would reveal all their lies, said Horvat, who had under a pseudonym released a book about Cardinal Stepinac in France. (Hina) mbr jn /lml 282006 MET sep 98