The Holy See's Eastern Policy—The Yugoslav Example

The Second Vatican Council, among other things, heralded the opening of the Catholic Church to atheist societies and the beginning of dialogue with communist regimes. It also ushered in a period of more intensive pursuit of the Holy See's Eastern Policy, whose objective was to improve the position of the Church in communist countries. Not being a part of the Soviet Bloc, Yugoslavia was considered the best place to start working towards this goal. This paper relies on original archival materials and relevant literature to elaborate on the implementation of the Holy See's policy and its bearing on the normalization of the relations between the Church and the government in Yugoslavia and between Yugoslavia and the Holy See.