By Snjezana Pavic
They call themselves knights, the Knights of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. They call what they do “praying,” and in public they are recognized as “klecavci,” the kneelers: organized groups of men who meet on the first Saturday of every month to kneel and pray in public spaces. These include the main square in Zagreb, the city’s capital, and other central squares across multiple cities such as Split, Osijek, Zadar, Šibenik, Dubrovnik, Karlovac…
But even though most citizens of Croatia identify as Catholic (79%), this is a new phenomenon; it is not customary to witness public performances of ultraconservative masculinist points of view. These groups of men claim to be praying, in public, for their homeland, for strong male authority in family settings, and for female chastity—in clothing, for example. They are also praying for abortion bans, for women’s virginity, for a ban on extramarital sex.
The connection with Ordo Iuris and the global ultraconservative network
In July, these groups received the support of bishop Vlado Košić, the representative of the ultra-right wing Croatian clergy. He joined them in the main square of Zagreb, but not without opposition: women organized counterdemonstrations and adopted the slogan “I decide for myself.”
“It is a prayer movement that started in Poland and is spreading all over the world,” explained father Božidar Nagy, who is from Zagreb. “Many women are not aware that when they dress provocatively, this causes great embarrassment for the male population. Women should not provoke men, through their clothing, to sin,” he claims. John Vice Batarelo, one of the most prominent figures of the Croatian ultraconservative Christian movement, is among the initiators of these monthly masculinist gatherings. Four years ago, he set up the Croatian branch of the Ordo Iuris Foundation, an ultraconservative group from Poland. It used to be marginal in Poland, until PiS, the Law and Justice Party, came to power in 2015. Keeping in mind that Ordo Iuris (Order of Law) was one of the mobilizing forces behind the 2021 total abortion ban in Poland, The Guardian has reported that the organization has been acting as official adviser to the PiS government in matters of reproductive rights and education since 2016. It has recently announced that it will be providing legal representation to a man who is suing his wife for having an abortion, which Ordo Iuris argues violated the man’s right to a family life.
Poland as role model
Similarly to circumstances in Poland a decade ago, this ultraconservative masculinist movement currently seems to be marginal in Croatia. But in a fragile society of less than 4 million people, the Catholic Church has considerable influence. It was in 2016 that this movement was imported from the USA and Poland, along with other forms of alt right tendencies. Croatia now even has its own “March for Life” movement: just this year, they organized marches in 13 cities. This is an American franchise—the first March for Life was in Washington in 1974, after the United States Supreme Court legalized abortion in the Roe v. Wade case.
The same, or similar, ultraconservative groups also organize biannual protests in front of Croatian public hospitals. In 2023, a series of protests against a woman’s right to choose spread across 37 cities in Croatia, taking up the name “40 Days for Life.”
It has nothing to do with religion, nothing to do with prayer. It is a perfidious attack on women’s rights and instrumentalizes religion for completely different purposes.
Strong public support for abortion rights
As part of the country’s socialist legacy from former Yugoslavia, abortion is legal in Croatia and has strong public support. But many doctors refuse to administer abortions due to their religious beliefs.
It is not impossible for the situation to escalate like it did in Poland. It is a well-known, dark scenario, as Fred Matić, a member of the European Parliament, has said. It has nothing to do with religion, nothing to do with prayer. It is a perfidious attack on women’s rights and instrumentalizes religion for completely different purposes. “First women, then the human rights of others,” said the Croatian member of the European Parliament.
Women’s response
In response to these gatherings, artist Arijana Lekić-Fridrih has been organizing public performances on the first Saturday of every month across from the masculinist “prayers” in Zagreb’s main square. Other counterdemonstrations have also been organized by Ženska mreža Hrvatske (Women’s Network Croatia), in Zagreb and other cities. But it is mostly smaller groups of women and younger men who are standing against these “prayer” groups of 100 or more men in these squares.
“This has nothing to do with Christian values,” said Arijana Lekić-Fridrih. “It is about the re-traditionalization of society and the return of patriarchy. It happened in Poland already. So it is difficult to look at a very similar situation and hope for a different result. It should not be ignored.”
