CARDINAL STEPINAC'S SPECIAL CONCERN WAS MARIJA BISTRICA SHRINE

( Editorial: --> 4299 ) ZAGREB, Sept 30 (Hina) - As a young Zagreb Archbishop, Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, who is to be beatified by Pope John Paul II in the shrine of Marija Bistrica on October 3, especially cared for the village and tried to transform it into a national shrine. Stepinac's efforts received blessings from Pope Pius XII in 1942. Shortly after his appointment as Archbishop Coadjutor, Alojzije Stepinac walked at the head of the Zagreb votive pilgrimage to the shrine of Marija Bistrica, and the pilgrimage took place every year until 1946. In 1940, Stepinac erected and blessed the "temporary" Way of the Cross on the hill Kalvarija (Calvary) overlooking the shrine, which is the final station of the pilgrimage. In the war year of 1943, Archbishop Stepinac sent a circulatory letter to parish priests saying he intended to build a new and much larger church in Marija Bistrica, a plan which was later forcibly cancelled. After World War II, the Communist authorities often prohibited and obstructed even the pilgrimages to Marija Bistrica. It was only after some 20 years that the construction of a new building adjacent to the Marija Bistrica church began. The shrine was named after the miracle-working statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the brook Bistrica that runs through the village. The first mention of the name Marija Bistrica dates back to as early as 1209 in a charter of the Croatian-Hungarian King Andrew II. The Bistrica parish was first dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul and is mentioned for the first time on the list of Zagreb Diocese parishes in 1334. The shrine is located about 40km north-east of Zagreb, on the northern slope of Mt Zagrebacka Gora. Today it is Croatia's best known shrine of the Holy Virgin, visited every year by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from Croatia and abroad. The village itself has about 1,500 residents, who are mainly pub owners, small entrepreneurs and farmers. Old crafts such as pottery, candle-making and souvenir-making have been preserved. The village's industry is focused mainly on hydraulic machines and wood processing. (hina) jn rml/sp 301840 MET sep 98