Association of Croatian Orthodox Believers ( hr, Udruga hrvatskih pravoslavnih vjernika), often called Croatian Orthodox Union ( hr, Hrvatska pravoslavna zajednica) was a civic association in Croatia that formed for the reestablishment of the

Croatian Orthodox Church The Croatian Orthodox Church ( hr, Hrvatska pravoslavna crkva) was a religious body created during World War II by the Fascist Ustaše regime in the Independent State of Croatia (NDH). It was created in order to Cultural assimilation, assimilate t ...

, an Eastern Orthodox autocephalous church that existed from 1942 to 1945, created by the '' Ustaše'' in the Independent State of Croatia.

History

The association publishes a journal called ''Hrvatski pravoslavac'' ( en, The Croatian Orthodox) which features articles discussing religious, historical and political events in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of their main activities is the encouragement of Orthodox population in Croatia to officially declare themselves as Croats. The association marks anniversaries of death of Patriarch Germogen of Croatia and other Croatian Orthodox priests killed by the Yugoslav Partisans in 1945. Croatian law stipulates that at least 500 members and 5 years of existence are required for a religious organization to be officially registered. According to the 2001 census Croatia had around 200,000 Orthodox believers, the majority of whom are thought to be members of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

, e.g. ethnic Serbs. The association's main goal is gathering Orthodox believers of Croat ethnicity so that forming a separate

would become possible. There were 11,400 Croatian citizens who identified themselves as ethnic Croats of the Orthodox Christian persuasion in the 2001 census, but since they did not identify themselves as members of the Croatian Orthodox Church the foundation of the new organisation is still not possible. Those 11,400 Croats aren't members of any Orthodox Church currently in existence, so if they identified themselves as Croatian Orthodox in the 2011 census the

could be re-established. A few Croatian right-wing political parties have expressed support for the association and its goals, including the

Croatian Party of Rights The Croatian Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska stranka prava or HSP) is an extra-parliamentary nationalist political party in Croatia. The "right(s)" in the party's name refer to the legal and moral reasons that justify the independence and autonom ...

and the

Croatian Pure Party of Rights Croatian Pure Party of Rights ( hr, Hrvatska čista stranka prava or HČSP) is a far-right political party in Croatia founded in 1992. The party claims to be an ideological descendant of the identically named right-wing Serbophobic historical p ...

. However, members of the

Independent Democratic Serb Party The Independent Democratic Serb Party ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Самостална демократска српска странка, Samostalna demokratska srpska stranka, SDSS) is a social-democratic political party in Croatia representing the interes ...

, Serb People's Party, Croatian culture minister

Božo Biškupić Božo Biškupić (born 26 April 1938 in Mala Mlaka, near Zagreb) is a Croatian politician and lawyer. He served as Minister of Culture of Croatia in the governments of three Croatian Prime Ministers: Zlatko Mateša (1995–2000), Ivo Sanader (2 ...

, and President Ivo Josipović have all voiced criticism of the association, describing it and its existence as "a form of promotion of the Ustaše ideology", "an invitation for intolerance towards other Orthodox communities" and an "ominous association which is fundamentally based on the idea of denying other ommunities primarily the Serbian Orthodox Church and ethnic Serbs".

References

{{reflist, 2 Croatian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox organizations Religious nationalism Christian organizations established in 2010 2010 establishments in Croatia 2019 disestablishments in Croatia Religious organizations based in Croatia Independent Eastern Orthodox denominations