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Römische Historische Mitteilungen 65/2023
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Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften Austrian Academy of Sciences Press
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Römische Historische Mitteilungen 65/2023, pp. 577-604, 2024/05/01
During the Second World War, the Holy See was faced with the complex situation in the Balkans resulting from the occupation of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941 by the German armed forces, supported by Italians, Hungarians and Bulgarians. The birth of the independent state of Croatia posed the problem of the country’s recognition by the papal diplomatic bodies and so did the visit to the Vatican of President Ante Pavelic´ and the sovereign-designate, Aimon of Savoy Aosta. Both issues were debated in the Secretariat of State and a solution was found based on case studies written by Msgr. Armando Lombardi, with references to the precedents and theories of international law at the time. Pius XII therefore opted to send an Apostolic Visitor to Zagreb, the Benedictine abbot Giuseppe Ramiro Marcone, entrusted with an on-site religious mission. Pavelic´, on the other hand, tried, in vain, to accredit to the Vatican his unofficial representatives – first Nikola Rušinovic´ and later Prince Erwin Lobkowicz – who were only admitted to the Apostolic Palace for the purpose of providing information on the religious situation in the Croatian State.