- Petrićevac
Petrićevac is a part of the city of
Banja Luka inRepublika Srpska ,Bosnia and Herzegovina . Today, there are about 25,000 inhabitants in Petrićevac.The place is the location of a Catholic Church of Saint Anthony and a
Franciscan monastery in the 20th century. There was also an Orthodox Church made byIlija Rankić .During
World War II , the Orthodox church was destroyed in1941 by theUstaša , the Croatian fascist organization.Miroslav Filipović originated from the Catholic monastery before he went on to join theUstaše during WWII, and commit numerous atrocities andwar crimes over theSerbs in the region between1942 and1945 . Filipović was defrocked after a February 1942 massacre of Serb civilians in the nearby villages (Drakulić andMotike ).During the
war in Bosnia in1995 , the Catholic church and the monastery were destroyed in revenge by theBosnian Serb Army , causing the death of one of the friars in the process. This was reportedly done because the buildings reminded them of World War II and they considered it "revenge". The reconstruction of the buildings started in2003 afterPope John Paul II visited the site.
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.