Cardinal Stepinac's Requiem

Continued from Page 1 of flowers, ferns and shrubs. Several relatives were present.
The coffin was then lowered into the crypt beside the altar: the Cardinal's favourite statues of Our Lady and St. Stephen, the first martyr, were buried with him, as he requested.
Throughout the preceding night thousands of people, clad in black, had thronged the church and the precincts to pay their last respects to their spiritual leader. The Cardinal's body had been 'taken some 30 miles from Krasic, where he died, in a four-car cortege which had driven slowly through villages whose streets were lined with mourning people.
It is reported that long hours of prayer in the unheated village church where he celebrated Mass on the Sunday before his death, brought on the cold which quickly turned to pneumonia and his fatal illness.
They met
The Cardinal died in the twostorey brick house which he shared with a priest. Reports also state that he was in good humour throughout the morning of the day he died and fully conscious until his death at 1 p.m.
Following his death, large crowds flocked to Yugoslavia's churches and Archbishop Ujcic of Belgrade proclaimed a week of mourning for the country's six million Catholics.
Pope John expressed his deep grief on hearing of the Cardinal's death and, in a telegram to Archbishop Seper, promised prayers for the "serene repose" of the Cardinal's soul, and recalled meeting Mgr. Stepinac "for-whom We had so much esteem".
The Pope's friendship with the late Cardinal dates back to 1933 when as Archbishop Roncalli. he passed through Yugoslavia. Last June Pope John sent him a letter of encouragement and congratulation on the silver jubilee of his consecration.
A 'martyr'
On hearing of the Cardinal's death, Pope John ordered a Requiem Papal Mass in St. Peter's, last Wednesday morning. Cardinal Tisserant was celebrant and the Pope gave the final absolution.
The Cardinal's death brought personal sorrow to his secretary from 1941 to 1945, Fr. Lackovic. "His constant fight for the religious and civil freedom of Croatians. Serbians and all other oppresssed people during the reign of terror of both the Nazis and the Reds was the guiding light for all who sought liberty." he said.
"The Cardinal was a holy and a spiritual man who loved to mingle with the working people," he added. ". . . he died a martyr's death; possibly even a harder death than anyone ever experienced, for he was dying slowly for the past 15 years under Tito's rule."
Westminster Requiem
Cardinal Godfrey will preside at Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass for the late Cardinal Stepinac to be sung in Westminster Cathedral by Bishop Craven at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, February 24. 1 he Cardinal will give the Absolution at he Catafalque. The Apostolic Delegate, Archbishop O'Hara, will be present.
On the same day a Requiem Mass will be celebrated at Farm Street church London, at 10 a.m. This has been arranged by the Croat community.
Memorial gift
In memory of the late Cardinal Stepinac, the World Refugee Year Committee ,have sent £1.000 to Trieste, where young Yugoslav refugees receive a technical training prior to emigration under the supervision of Mgr. Bottizer.