Catholic Bishop Becomes Croatian Far-Right Champion

Known for his use of the Croatian WWII fascist Ustasa slogan 'Za dom spremni' ('Ready for the Home(land)') in his famous 1991 wartime song 'Cavoglave', Thompson and his concerts are banned across Europe.

During the concert, Kosic - clad in a brown leather jacket - recited verses from Thompson's song 'Maranatha', while the band provided accompaniment.

"As long as there is a heart, there will be Croatia; show us the way to the heaven in the sky; Maranatha, come Jesus, my Lord," he declaimed, triggering an uproar from Thompson's fans.

With Croatian politicians, media and the public currently engaged in ferocious debate about whether the public use of  'Za dom spremni' should be banned, Kosic has used social networks to support the far-right movement's attempts to defend the WWII slogan.

The bishop has claimed it was a historical Croatian greeting, despite the fact that many experts stress there is no proof of that.

Kosic was also one of the signatories of a petition which was sent to Croatian President Kolinda Grabar Kitarovic in August 2015, demanding that the slogan be used as a salute in the Croatian armed forces.

Shaped by the 1990s war

Born in the village of Druzbinac, near the northern town of Varazdin, Kosic graduated from the Zagreb Catholic Theological Faculty in 1985, after which he was ordained.

In 1990, he became a vicar in the village of Hrastovica, near the town of Petrinja in central Croatia. In September 1991, he fled the village along with the majority of its occupants, before the advancing forces of rebel Croatian Serbs, who later burned the local church.

In 1992, he was named the vicar of Petrinja, although in exile as Serb forces were still controlling the area. Pope Benedict...