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The Symbolic Link Between Roman-Catholic Religion and Croatian National Identity from the Micro-Perspective of Croatian Citizens

During the formation of modern Croatian nation-state in the 1990s political and intellectual elites heavily utilized the link between Croatian ethno-national identity and Roman-Catholic religion. This can best be seen in the (re)definition of the symbolic dimension of national identity in the 1990s when religious imagery was mixed in with national identity through symbols, myths and rituals. The emphasis on this link during the establishment of a secular nation-state served two main purposes. The first was a clear separation from former Yugoslavia by underlining the religious aspect of national identity that was restricted and suppressed during socialism, and the second was the propagation of Croatian claim to its right to statehood, which drew from the historical periods of as early as the 7th century. This paper will first present the use of Roman-Catholic religious symbolism in the 1990s from the macro-perspective of the elites. It will then go on to analyse the changes in the relation between religious and national symbolism over the past 25 years of the consolidation of Croatian nation-state. The main part of the paper will focus on the micro-perspective of Croatian citizens and their acceptance, rejection and modification of these macro-narratives. The empirical results from 2013 qualitative research conducted through deep semi-structured interviews on a purposive sample of 85 Croatian citizens will be presented. The results reveal divergences in Croatian citizens’ attitudes towards the linkage between religious and national symbolism, as well as the reasons for such discrepancies that go beyond the correlation with personal religious and ethno-national identification.

Roman-Catholic church; Croatian identity; religious identity; national identity; micro-perspective

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