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Blessed Ivan Merz, University Student in Postwar Paris, 1920–22: (Two formative years in the short life of the naturalized Croatian Blessed One)

2022; The Catholic University of America Press; Volume: 108; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/cat.2022.0086

1534-0708

Zdravko Matić, Frano Stojić, Stephen Schloesser,

Balkans: History, Politics, Society

Exactly one hundred years ago, the layman Ivan Merz finished his studies at the Sorbonne and the Institut Catholique in Paris and returned to Zagreb. Especially interested in the Liturgy and Eucharistic Adoration, he had studied French literature but also promoted the Croatian issue within the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes. He researched French Catholic associations and met numerous French writers and Catholic intellectuals. Upon his return home, he became the mastermind behind Catholic Action in Croatia, holding to the strict directions of Pope Pius XI. He died when he was just thirty-two years old, and was soon pronounced “the Pillar of the Church” in Croatia.