CROATIAN CULTURE
Fraternal group’s 125th anniversary in U.S. draws VIPs from Europe to Millvale church
Surrounded by graphic images of the crucified Christ and wartorn battlefields portrayed in the famous Millvale Murals painted by Maxo Vanka, the president and prime minister of Croatia sat Sunday morning in the first pew of the historic St. Nicolas Croatian Catholic Church.
Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Croatia’s first female president, and Andrej Plenkovic, the southeastern European nation’s prime minster, were in Millvale for the Jubilee Mass celebrating the 125th anniversary of the Croatian Fraternal Union of America, which is headquartered in Wilkins.
Neither the president nor the prime minister spoke to the 300 worshippers who filled the church in Millvale, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. St. Nicholas was the first Croatian Catholic parish in the United States.
The parish presented Ms. Grabar-Kitarovic an image of the Virgin Mary — a rendition of the large mural painted by Vanka that is behind the main altar of the church. In that painting, Mary wears the traditional garb of a Croatian peasant woman.
Speaking at the Mass for the president and prime minister was Gordan Radman, Croatia’s minister of foreign affairs.
“I am for the first time here,” Mr. Radman said. “Croatia is not a big country, but it is a country
with a big heart, and you are part of the country,” he said in English, before switching to his native Croatian.
Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik welcomed the Croatian dignitaries, noting that “Pittsburgh is the home of many immigrants.” He said his ancestors came from Poland and Slovakia.
Celebrating the Mass was Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, whose ancestors came to America from Croatia.
People came together in Millvale on Sunday “to celebrate this Croatian culture, which has been so instrumental in passing on this faith” of the Roman Catholic Church, the cardinal said.
A television crew from Croatia was on hand, capturing the arrival and departure of the Croatian president and prime minister and the Mass.
Security was tight, though fairly unobtrusive. Parishioners and other observers had to be seated inside the church before Ms. Grabar-Kitarovic and the prime minister and their entourage arrived at the yellow brick church.
Allegheny County police Officer Nathan Dimit and his Belgian Malinois K-9, Pedro, had been at the church since 7:30 a.m. Pedro, an explosive detection dog, swept the church and surrounding property.
The U.S. Secret Service and the Croatian government’s equivalent were involved in security precautions, said Millvale police Chief Tim Komoroski, who was at the church with several of his officers.
Chief Komoroski said he has visited each of Millvale’s eight churches every Sunday, with one of his officers, since the shootings at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill last October.
Why was Allegheny County chosen as headquarters for the Croatian organization?
“Our people came to Pittsburgh because they had the opportunity to have jobs here,” said Franjo Bertovic, national vice president/ member services for the Croatian Fraternal Union of America.
He says he works at the headquarters in Wilkins.
Croatian immigrants “worked very hard in the steel mills and coal mines. They built houses and churches,” Mr. Bertovic said.
He called the goal of “preserving our Croatian culture” while working and living as Americans “a mixed marriage that we are proud of. ”
The CFU of America has over 50,000 members and $500 million in assets, Mr. Bertovic said.
The organization’s services include selling insurance and administering a $7 million scholarship fund that helps 250 college students each year.