The Confiscation of the Property of the Chatolic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1945 to 1961 Cover Image

Oduzimanje imovine Katoličke crkve u BiH od 1945. do 1961. godine
The Confiscation of the Property of the Chatolic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1945 to 1961

Author(s): Denis Bećirović
Subject(s): History
Published by: Institut za istoriju

Summary/Abstract: During the post-war period the communist government, through tens of of laws, orders and decisions, without compensation or with promised but never fulfilled compensation, acquired for the state a great part of the property of the Catholic Church. The weakening of the economical power and influence of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina began with the agrarian reform, nationalization and expropriation of Church land and property. Especially difficult for the relations between the Church and the State were those laws which influenced the expropriation of Church property. Apart from the Law on agrarian reform and colonisation, those were also the Law on the confiscation of property and the execution of the confiscation from 1945, the Law on the nationalization of private businesses from 1946, with changes from 1948, and the Basic law on expropriation from 1947. Through the mentioned and other laws the state confiscated from the Church, apart from the land possessions, numerous Church institutions, buildings, printing presses etc. The Catholic Church lodged many complaints to the authorities against the appropriation of its mobile and immobile property. The communist government was accused that it wanted to destroy the material basis of the Catholic Church and thus to disable it from performing its spiritual functions. Despite of this, these complaints did not help the Catholic Church to preserve its mobile and immobile property.

  • Issue Year: 2012
  • Issue No: 41
  • Page Range: 129-146
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Bosnian