Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States

the visit would not aggravate ethnic and interconfessional relations in Yugoslavia.
27
Ethnically homogenous Catholic Slovenia, whose local Church did not
seek a beatification of the World War II anticommunist and pro-German
bishop Rozˇman and whose political leaders did not worry about ethnic minorities,
rushed to inaugurate religious liberty without restrictions as early
as 1987. From 1989 to 1990, in all Yugoslav republics except in Serbia,
worship services were broadcast on Television, religious dignitaries read
their messages to the faithful, and state officials delivered greetings to citizen
believers. Even the Yugoslav military announced in November 1990 that
“regulation of religious rights for military personnel is under review.” 28 The
federal government, under the premier Ante Marković, announced democratization
of religious affairs in the context of the constitutional reform
initiated in 1987. The Catholic episcopate released two documents concerning
the constitutional reform. The bishops promised loyalty to the Yugoslav
state provided that it honor religious values and recognize religious institutions
as respected and benevolent social institutions. 29 In 1988, the Holy
Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church also submitted a set of proposals for
the ongoing constitutional reform to federal authorities. The Serbian Church
demanded that Christmas and Saint Sava’s Day become state holidays.
Finally, the first private interfaith associations were formed in 1989. In
October 1989, the Belgrade press published a document, entitled “An Inter-
Confessional Petition,” submitted to the federal government by a human
rights group that brought together prominent clerics from various denominations.
This interfaith group was led by a Serb Orthodox prelate Ljubodrag
Petrović, with assistance from Belgrade Jesuits, some Muslim clerics, and
leaders of local Jewish community. 30 The document called for greater religious
liberty, advancement of religious culture, and the formation of interfaith
advocacy groups. 31
138 balkan idols
Ethnoreligious Realignment and
the Multiparty Elections
As the first multiparty elections were announced in all Yugoslav federal
republics, the question of religious liberty and religious affairs in general
became a highly important issue in the preelection campaign. All pretenders
vied to gain support from religious institutions. Aware of the Church’s
strength in Croatia, party leaders decided to start negotiations about powersharing
with the Catholic episcopate. Croatian communist reformers pinned
their hopes on the diplomatic skills of Zdenko Svete, a Partisan veteran and
former ambassador to the Holy See, who was nominated head of the state
delegation for top-level secret church-state negotiations that began in February
1989 in Zagreb. 32 The Bishops’ Conference of Yugoslavia nominated
Bishop Ćiril Kos of Djakovo as the head of the Church delegation, assisted