The Senj City Museum, the Brothers of the Croatian Dragon Society, the City of Senj, and the Parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary are organising a presentation of the book Stepinac Steadfast as the Velebit: Three Stories of Life on the Peaks of the Velebit and by the Sea.
The presentation will take place on 14 October 2026 at 18:30 at the Pučko otvoreno učilište (Open University) in Senj.
The book will be presented by Mons. Dr. Juraj Batelja, postulator for the cause of canonisation of Blessed Alojzije Stepinac and canon of the Zagreb Cathedral Chapter. The moderator of the presentation is Ana Vukelić Biondi, a curator at the Senj City Museum.
As announced, the book follows specific people and families: Martina Maruna from Međi Dolci (Jasenice), Lucija Dušević from Ljupče, and Damir Novaković from Posedarje. The book deals with the life stories of people connected to the peaks of the Velebić and the sea, and it is in this area that the character of the local people, as described by Pope Pius XII, is recognised: "You have in your nature that hardness and stability similar to your mountains. Oh, that this character would be expressed in the firmness of your ancestral faith! Steadfast and constant must be that faith, like the standing stone of your Velebit, which defies the storms and tempests."
The presentation will also touch upon the connections between Blessed Alojzije Stepinac and Senj. The Archbishop stayed in Sen three times. The first visit took place on 27 November 1934, when he attended the funeral of Bishop Ivan Starčević. In July 1935, he visited Sen for the second time, on the occasion of the installation of Bishop Viktor Burić. The third time was on 15 October 1937, when he celebrated Mass in the chapel of the Bishop's Palace in Sen.
The organizers are inviting people to the presentation, which will take place at the Sen Open University, where the author Batelja will speak about the book and its three stories.
