Servant of God Ivan Burik

Ivan Burik (8 November 1928 – 8 October 1991) was a Croatian Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek killed during the Croatian War of Independence, murdered by Serb rebels, in the aftermath of the Tovarnik massacre. He was declared a Servant of God by Pope Francis in May 2016. Burik was born in Neštin near Ilok in 1928. Due to his family's poor financial situation, he started working as a scribe after finishing six grades of the public school. When the Banovina of Croatia was founded, Ivan's father was active in the local Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) organization. After the outbreak of the Second World War, he was appointed as the local chief. In 1943, he was killed by Yugoslav partisans. For the sake of safety, in 1943, Ivan escaped with his mother and brother to Ilok, and at the end of the war in 1944, because of the fighting at the Syrmian Front, they continued to Strizivojna, then to Vinkovci. On April 12, 1945, his family found themselves in a column of Croatian refugees fleeing from partisan forces. Ivan's family reached Bleiburg, where English soldiers stopped them. They arrived in Maribor and from there they went on their way, not like the other returning groups and thus escaped the fate of those in the Bleiburg massacre. They arrived in Strizivojna, where they stayed to live. Due to poverty and the family's loss of property during the war, he had to be a shepherd until 1948. In 1950, he was called up for military service. Upon his return, he briefly managed to get a job as an official in the local community. He was then sent to further education as a statistician in Zagreb. He briefly worked as a statistician, among others in Đakovo, where he befriended Đakovo priests and theologians, which is why he lost his job. He privately finished high school at Šalata in Zagreb. In his mature years, he enrolled and completed theology studies in Đakovo.(hr) He was ordained a priest on March 6, 1960.