When Even The Prayer Was Suspicious

Abstract

Pope Pius XII was known for his Marian orientation. To make the Church more solemn in celebrating the centenary of the proclamation of the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception, he proclaimed 1954 the »Marian Year«, the first in the history of the Church. The scarce Slovene Church press regularly reported on the Jubilee and presented individual highlights at length. The faithful were invited to attend various devotions and to pray a special prayer in honour of Mary, composed by the Pope himself. In the eyes of the Slovenian judicial authorities, the prayer was an expression of criticism of the social situation, an attempt to overthrow the constitutional order, opposition to revolutionary changes and an attack on democracy, so they banned it and confiscated all printed copies. The legal proceedings against the prayer began in Maribor and continued all the way to Belgrade.

Keywords

• pius xii (1876
• pope 1939–1958)
• marian devotion
• maksimilijan držečnik (1903
• bishop 1946–1978)
• maribor diocese
• slovenia