Cardinal Franjo Šeper was particularly attached to Cardinal Stepinac, as his addresses on the anniversaries of Stepinac’s death made clear.
Recalling his life, he emphasised his love for his people, his loyalty to the Pope and the suffering of a staged trial, which he bore stoically.
Cardinal Šeper had been his fellow student, then his personal secretary, and finally succeeded him as Archbishop of Zagreb. Because of these circumstances he believed he had great insight into Stepinac’s life, character and mentality, having followed his work at close quarters. He therefore felt able to testify that Stepinac was a patriot, that he loved the Croatian people and identified with them, and that he was never a politician, let alone a party politician.
His sharpest criticism of communism, in Šeper’s words, rested on what he knew of a communist regime already in place under Stalin and of its consequences.
In his addresses Cardinal Šeper rejected the grave accusations of Stepinac’s alleged Ustaša allegiance, holding that they should have been proved with documents, which no one had done, because the facts say otherwise.
