Servant of God

Ivan Burik
ChurchRoman Catholic
ArchdioceseĐakovo-Osijek
Orders
Ordination6 March 1960
Personal details
Born(1928-11-08)November 8, 1928
Neštin
DiedOctober 8, 1991(1991-10-08) (aged 62)
Tovarnik
NationalityCroat
DenominationCatholic
OccupationCatholic priest
EducationFaculty of Catholic Theology in Đakovo
Sainthood
Title as SaintServant of God

Ivan Burik (8 November 1928 – 8 October 1991) was a Croatian Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek[1] known as the only Roman Catholic priest killed during the Croatian War of Independence, murdered by Serb forces in the Tovarnik massacre.[2] He was declared a Servant of God by Pope Francis in May 2016.

Biography

Childhood

Burik was born in Neštin near Ilok in 1928. Due to his family's poor financial situation, he started working as a scribe after finishing six grades of the public school. When Banovina Hrvatska was founded, Ivan's father was active in the local Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) organization. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed as the local chief. In 1943, he was killed by Yugoslav partisans. For the sake of safety, in 1943, Ivan escaped with his mother and brother to Ilok, and at the end of the war in 1944, in front of the Srijem battlefield, they continued to Strizivojna, then to Vinkovci. On April 12, 1945, his family found themselves in a column of Croatian refugees fleeing from partisan forces. Ivan's family reached Bleiburg, where English soldiers stopped them. They arrived in Maribor and from there they went on their way, not like the other returning groups and thus escaped the fate of those in the Bleiburg massacre. They arrived in Strizivojna, where they stayed to live.[3]

Education

Due to poverty and the family's loss of property during the war, he had to be a shepherd until 1948. In 1950, he was called up for military service. Upon his return, he briefly managed to get a job as an official in the local community. He was then sent to further education as a statistician in Zagreb. He briefly worked as a statistician, among others in Đakovo, where he befriended Đakovo priests and theologians, which is why he lost his job. He privately finished high school at Šalata in Zagreb. In his mature years, he enrolled and completed theology studies in Đakovo.(hr)[3]

Priesthood

He was ordained a priest on March 6, 1960. In Đakovo, he was a chaplain in the local parish for the next three years. In the branches in the immediate vicinity of the city, he built the first catechetical halls and arranged sacristies, preparing them to become independent parishes (today the parishes of Viškovci, Đakovačka Satnica and Đakovački Selci).[3]

He was a priest in Tovarnik since July 1, 1963. The village still felt the consequences of World War II and post-war communist repression. He gradually restored neglected parish buildings and parish communities, arranging the old church and a new parsonage next to it, and by holding catechesis. As he helped the Catholics, he also helped the Orthodox population of Tovarnik.[3]

War and death

He concelebrated on July 21, 1991, at the First Mass of Tovarnik's deacon Grga Grbešić.[3] In the war year of 1991, he did not leave Tovarnik. Instead, he helped in the evacuation of parishioners.[4] Once, under pressure from the aggressor, he had to temporarily move to Vojvodina, in Sot. He stayed with his friend Rev. Petar Šokčević, but by order of the occupation authorities he had to return to Tovarnik every day and report to their militia. The last time he went from Sot to occupied Tovarnik was on October 7, 1991. He was shot from behind in the basement of the clergy house by a member of the Serbian paramilitary unit "Dušan Silni", a murderer from Vršac.[5] The killer later bragged in Lovas that he had "killed the Ustasha priest", parading around for days with Burik's priest's beret on his head.[5]

Burik was killed together with the locals in a mass slaughter on September 22. The remaining Croats in Tovarnik, mostly old men and women, had to wear white ribbons. For a long time it was believed that Burik was killed that September 22.[6] The coroner's report falsified conditions of the murder, because the analysis later showed bullet holes in the chest.[5] The coroner's report was signed by Ljeposava Stanimirović.[7] Although he was killed like other locals with firearms and/or cold weapons, in official documents she and Dr. Dragan Martinović wrote that Burik and the others "died from the explosion".[8]

He was exhumed from a mass grave and buried in the local cemetery on January 31, 1998, with his parishioners.

Trials

Fourteen Chetniks were tried for Burik's murder. Three were charged with armed rebellion, four were acquitted due to lack of evidence, and the rest received sentences ranging from five to ten years.[7]

Remembrance

Jakov Sedlar directed a documentary on his life, entitled "Mučenik – vlč. Ivan Burik" (Martyr - Rev. Ivan Burik), which premiered in Đakovo in 2009.[9]

In 2009, the Croatian writer Nevenka Nekić (hr) published a biographical novel Burik.[10] In 2013, Sonja Tomić wrote an illustrated book Zvjezdana vrata ("Stargate") on his life and martyrdom.[11]

Since 2009, the Vukovar - Tovarnik Memorial Race has been held in his memory.[12]

Literature

  • Nekić, Nevenka, ed. (October 2011). Zbornik: Znanstveno-stručni skup Vlč. Ivan Burik - svjedok vjere, mučenik crkve: stradanje Tovarnika i tovarničke župe 1991. godine [Proceedings: Scientific and professional conference Rev. Ivan Burik - witness of faith, martyr of the church: the martyrdom of Tovarnik and Tovarnik parish in 1991]. Rev. Ivan Burik - witness of faith, martyr of the church: the martyrdom of Tovarnik and Tovarnik parish in 1991; October 7, 2009 (in Croatian). Tovarnik: Udruga dr. Ante Starčević. ISBN 978-953-55882-2-1.

References

  1. ↑ Grbešić, Grgo. "Panoramica storica della diocesi bosniaca e istituzione dell'arcidiocesi di Đakovo-Osijek" [Historical Overview of the Bosnian Diocese and Establishment of the Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek]. Diacovensia (in Italian). 31 (2): 267–290. ISSN 1330-2655.
  2. ↑ Cançado Trindade, Antônio A. (2017). Judge Antônio A. Cançado Trindade. The construction of a humanized international law. A collection of individual opinions (2013-2016). Vol. 3. Leiden: Brill / Martinus Nijhoff. pp. 123, 174, 197. ISBN 978-90-04-34004-6. OCLC 993638126.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Vlč. Ivan Burik (1928-1991) - Mučenik Srijema" [Rev. Ivan Burik (1928-1991) - Martyr of Srijem]. ante-starcevic-tovarnik.hr (in Croatian). Udruga dr. Ante Starčević-Tovarnik, Croatian Association of Prisoners in Serbian Concentration Camps and Center for war crimes investigation in Vukovar.
  4. ↑ Markić, Ivana (November 18, 2021). "Branitelji su mi govorili: "Pater, kada ste vi otišli kao da se ugasilo svjetlo"". hkm.hr (in Croatian). Croatian Catholic Network. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 Rebac, Iva (October 18, 2016). "Užasno smaknuće u podrumu: Poslije su se hvalili ubojstvom" [Terrible execution in the basement: Afterwards they bragged about the murder]. 24sata.hr (in Croatian). 24 sata. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  6. ↑ "22. rujna 1991. Tovarnik – pokolj 68 Hrvata nakon okupacije sela heroja" [September 22, 1991. Tovarnik - massacre of 68 Croats after the occupation of the village of heroes]. narod.hr (in Croatian). September 22, 2015. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  7. 1 2 Vučković, Snježana (October 6, 2014). "SVEĆENIK MUČKI UBIJEN: Ustrijelio ga pripadnik postrojbe 'Dušan Silni', pa kapu 'ustaškog popa' nosio kao trofej". dnevno.hr (in Croatian). Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  8. ↑ Vuković, Tomislav (September 25, 2011). "Povodom 20. obljetnice srpskih zločina u Tovarniku (1). Što su pisali mrtvozornici dr. Vojislava Stanimirovića" (PDF) (in Croatian). Glas Koncila. p. 25. ISSN 0436-0311.
  9. ↑ "Premijera dokumentarnog filma" [Premiere of the documentary film]. biskupijadjs.hr (in Croatian). Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek. March 5, 2009. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
  10. ↑ Zovkić, Mato (2010). "Roman i dokumentarni film o ubijenom župniku Tovarnika Ivanu Buriku: Nevenka NEKIĆ, Burik. Roman o svećeniku ubijenom u Domovinskom ratu, Udruga dr. Ante Starčević–Tovarnik, 2009., 195 str. Mučenik vlč. Ivan Burik, režija Jakov Sedlar, tekst Krešimir Bušić i Hrvoje Hitrec, isti izdavač, Produkcija: EUROVAL, Zagreb". Vrhbosnensia (in Croatian). 14 (2): 403–406. ISSN 2233-1387.
  11. ↑ Muhamedagić, Sead (2014). "Riječ u zagrljaju slike-Sonja Tomić: Zvjezdana vrata. Ivan Burik, svećenik–mučenik Srijema, Tovarnik, Udruga Ante Starčević, 2013, 32 str". Nova prisutnost (in Croatian). 12 (1): 164–165. ISSN 1334-2312.
  12. ↑ Flego, Miroslav (October 6, 2014). "Utrkom obilježavaju 23. godišnjicu smrti tovarničkog svećenika Ivana Burika" [The race commemorates the 23rd anniversary of the death of Tovarnik priest Ivan Burik]. vecernji.hr (in Croatian). Večernji list. Retrieved December 16, 2023.
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