22.04.2024
Announcement of the promotion of the book by Mons. Batelja
On Monday, April 22, 2024, starting at 7:30 p.m., the presentation of the book “Mamma Schiavona” will be held.
The author, Mons. Dr. Juraj Batelja, a priest of the Archdiocese of Zagreb, a canon of the First Cathedral Chapter of Zagreb and the general postulator for the causes of beatification and canonization of the Archdiocese of Zagreb, tries to decipher the question of the origin of the image of Our Lady in the Sanctuary of Montevergine, the most famous Marian shrine in the Italian province of Campania. It is a church that is part of the Benedictine abbey founded in 1119 and in which there is a large altarpiece of Our Lady (icon) from the 14th century known as Madonna di Montevergine or Mamma Schiavona.
In the book, Batelja tries to explain that in Italy, the name Schiavoni refers to the Croats who left their homeland fleeing from the Ottoman conquests, and who settled in various places in today’s Italy, so that even today in many Italian places there are still toponyms with the name Schiavoni.