Archbishop Stanislav Hocevar of Belgrade said in a published interview that Catholics are unhappy with the delays, and observed that Cardinal Stepinac’s background has been investigated much more thoroughly than that of an Orthodox prelate who has been canonized by the Serbian Church.
He referred to the Serbian Bishop Nikolaj Velimirovic, who had supported Hitler before changing his allegiance to Serbian nationalists.
That reference outraged Serbian Orthodox officlals, and the Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church decried the “inappropriate statement” and the tacit comparison between Bishop Velimirovic and Cardinal Stepinac.