Ljubo Krasic 1938-2020 Croatian Franciscan founder of Croatian Schools of America and Canada - CROWN

One of our most distinguished missionaries and educators active among Croatian diaspora communities in the twentieth century

Fra Ljubo Krasiae (1938-2020), director of Croatian Ethnic Institute in Chicago, USA; photo by Nenad Bach

Obituary for Missionary Friar Ljubo Krasiae
Krasiae’s contribution to the formative period of Croatian language instruction abroad was massive and aimed at promoting our language and culture in North America. He left his homeland with a broad educational background and worked in the frame of Catholic missions in the Croatian communities on the dissemination of our language and culture in the anglophone world, all whilst discharging his complex parish duties while resident in the USA and in Canada. He enriched his new home through the organisation of Croatian language instruction and the printing of textbooks, magazines and books.
Friar Ljubo Krasiae was one of our most distinguished missionaries and educators active among the diaspora communities in the twentieth century. He died in Humac (Bosnia-Herzegovina) on the 21st of June in his 83rd year, having adopted the habit of a monk for 64 years and that of the Roman Catholic priesthood for 56 years. He made an immeasurable contribution to the organisation of Croatian language education activities among Croatian immigrants abroad and the diaspora community as a whole, all aimed at promoting our language and culture in North America during the Cold War division that once gripped western democratic societies. Having been deployed from his homeland to Roman Catholic missions among ethnic Croatian communities abroad with the expansive educational background of an erudite, he worked systematically on the dissemination of our language and culture in the anglophone world, along with all of the complexities of his parish duties both in the United States of America and in Canada. Along with his work with pupils and students, he also saw to the training of teachers. He enriched the anglophone milieu with the organisation of Croatian language instruction, and the printing of textbooks, magazines and books.
Krasiae was born in the Herzegovinian town of Eitluk on the 18th of March 1938. He attended the Franciscan gymnasium in Visoko before moving on to study philosophy and theology in Sarajevo, Zagreb and Rome. He joined the ranks of the Franciscan order in 1957 and was ordained a minister of the Roman Catholic church in 1964 in (C)iroki Brijeg. He was, in many ways, always rooted in his Franciscan family. He spent a year in the local parish upon his ordainment into the priesthood, before relocating from (C)iroki Brijeg to Zurich in Switzerland, where he not only established a Croatian Catholic mission, but also engaged in very vibrant activity as a priest and a patriot. However much the concordat between the Vatican and the now defunct Yugoslavia had its unfavourable official aspect, its benefits in practice allowed young priests with passports to travel abroad without impediment and continue not only their religious, but also the patriotic activities that their predecessors, Croatian priests in the diaspora, set up and sustained for many years. This work was always harmonious and in collaboration with their esteemed predecessors. Krasiae launched the Movis (meaning “Move”) magazine fresh upon his arrival in Switzerland to serve as a means of bringing ethnic Croatians across Switzerland together and informing them of religious and ethnic events. These included the magnificent pilgrimages to SwitzerlandAcEUR(TM)s Einsiedeln, gathering thousands of ethnic Croatian worshippers from across Switzerland and Germany and many participants from the ancestral homeland. We can fondly remember the delight with which the (R)eteoci band, comprised of divinity students in Zagreb, was received. While in Switzerland friar Krasiae organised a broad range of lectures on the Croatian language, literature and culture in the fold of the Croatian Catholic Mission and in collaboration with the Croatian Society. Among the lecturers were some of the leading lights of literature and linguistics in Croatia. KrasiaeAcEUR(TM)s four-year stint in Switzerland (1967-1971) was followed by three years of postgraduate study in Rome at the Alphonsianum [the Alphonsian Academy, a higher institute of moral theology]. He began his enthusiastic collaboration with newly-founded publisher ZIRAL, led by a pair of leading intellectuals, friar Dionizije Lasiae and friar Lucijan Kordiae.
Upon his arrival in the United States of America in 1974, friar Krasiae was appointed the assistant priest at the Saints Cyril and Methodius parish of New York and a year later to the post of director of the Croatian Ethnic Institute of Chicago. The following year, 1976, however, saw him back in Mostar (Herzegovina) to work with students. In 1977 he is back in the USA, now more or less permanently established in Chicago, where he continued his work with the Croatian Ethnic Institute and pursued his regular and copious duties in the local St Jerome parish. From 1980 to 1987 he was the parish priest in Sudbury in Canada’s province of Ontario where he worked with the local parishioners to purchase a lovely church, which they consecrated as St MarkAcEUR(TM)s. The revamped hall in the churchAcEUR(TM)s underground level was the venue for numerous activities, and it was from there and from the premises of the local chapter of the Croatian Peasant Party that the then very popular education institution HI(C)AK (Croatian Schools of America and Canada, later joined by schools in Australia and by a number in Europe) was active for many years. After Sudbury Krasiae moved on to assume the post of manager of the Croatian Culture and Social Centre in Norval (from 1987 to 1995), before moving back to Chicago to serve again as the director of the Croatian Ethnic Institute. He left Chicago in 1996 to move back to his native Herzegovina region.
That, in short, was the abbreviated curriculum vitae of the man, the priest, and the intellectual, but we would be well served, given his background and impact on Croatian culture and education abroad, to consider each of these chapters in greater detail. In Rome Krasiae produced his German-language study on the training of children of the different nations present in the then Yugoslav federation in other European countries (Die Schulung der Kinder verschiedener NationalitA¤ten aus Jugoslawien in den europaeischen Laendern, Rome, 1972) which expressed Krasiae'(TM)s aptitude for the sociological study he was always attracted to. He collaborated with the New York-based Center for Migrations Studies in producing a 114-page bilingual study, the result of his work on Sociological Investigations on Migrants. The Croatian/English study was published as Adjustment and Religious Profile among Croatians in U.S.A. and Canada -EUR” Interview Schedule.
A group of priests, heads of missions and most organisers and heads of Croatian language schools abroad, met in late July and the first days of August at the Sveti Nikola Taveliae Croatian centre in New York to report on the Croatian language, literature and culture instruction in their respective missions and ways to improve classroom instruction and raise its effectiveness. Writer and Franciscan monk Hrvoslav Ban observed with much optimism that “with people gathered that come with hands-on experience – we can all quickly and concretely identify the critical issues and shortcomings, and adopt conclusions that will actually write a new chapter in the history of instruction outside the homeland.” It was, in fact, friar Ljubo Krasiae that would go on to write the bulk of this new chapter, from the very inception of the HI(C)AK programme. Throughout the life of the HI(C)AK programme he was very much its spiritus movens.
At that founding meeting all of the participants agreed that the chief problem plaguing Croatian language instruction abroad was the dearth of suitable textbooks and the incompatibility of the instructional/school material coming out of [Socialist] Croatia at the time. Textbooks had to be produced for the children attending the supplemental Croatian language instruction programmes that were popping up in the mid-1970s wherever a greater concentration of the Croatian diaspora had settled. The instruction programmes were set up in many cities by many individuals, for all of whom Krasiae was an always-present source of assistance. By 1978 the HI(C)AK programme covered fifty-five locations providing Croatian language instruction, joined that year by a further twelve such supplemental school programmes in Australia. The programme was soon thereafter joined by some twenty locations in European countries (Germany, France, Switzerland and Sweden). From that point the HI(C)AK name referred to the Croatian Schools of America, Australia and Canada. In the 1984/85 academic year HI(C)AK numbered over one hundred participating Croatian language supplemental instruction programmes. This was also the point at which these supplemental education programmes abroad covered the greatest number of participating pupils.
It was soon after the founding of the HI(C)AK programme that friar Krasiae compiled two textbooks for Croatian language instruction, Hrvatski jezik 1 and Hrvatski jezik 2, for grades 1 and 2, and grades 3 and 4, respectively. It was soon evident that they lacked material sufficient for all four grades – something Krasiae himself concluded – which required the compilation of new textbooks.
He noted in one of the interviews he gave that “It was not easy to find authors, edit the textbooks, and secure financing for production, printing and distribution across four continents. In all, the fact that we were all in it on a volunteer basis was and good, and likely decisive, factor. The greatest reward were the hundred thousand children of ethnic Croatian background that are now parents, teachers and professors, that now speak Croatian and serve as a living bridge between their old and new homelands. There is also the fact that all Croatian priests and nuns, and the caring parents and other people of Croatian background, were unselfish in supporting this effort.”
In the setting of Canadian multicultural policies, as was the case in Australia, instruction was provided separately in the Serbian and Croatian languages. Active in the Canadian multicultural scene among the local ethnic Croatians were Ante Beljo in Sudbury and Gojko (C)u1ak in Ottawa. According to the research conducted by Slavko Graniae and based on the available Education Statistics for the province of Ontario for the 1983/84 school year there were 2,795 pupils attending Croatian language instruction and 499 pupils attending Serbian language instruction in the 1984/85 school year. The greatest attendance at a single location providing supplemental Croatian language instruction was the Saturday programme in Toronto, diligently managed for many years by Vladimir Bubrin and Marija Kraljeviae.
Textbooks, then, had to be prepared along with recorded materials for oral practice in these school programmes. The preparation process for the textbooks began with drafts distributed to the instructors, compiled as textbooks following testing with pupils. Both of the above-mentioned textbooks were subjected to the necessary review process and printed with the financial assistance of the Canadian government. Both textbooks saw multiple editions and were later also published in Croatia with the attendant teacher manuals. The third and fourth textbooks (Hrvatski jezik 3 and Hrvatski jezik 4) were edited in collaboration with Lada Kanajet (C)imiae, but floundered on the issue of illustrations. The textbooks were priced very favourably with the objective of encouraging their printing and availability to all children attending Croatian language instruction.
In their paper on Croatian schools abroad: Guarantors of the Preservation of the Croatian Language, authors Lidija Cvikiae, Lada Kanajet (C)imiae and Tamara Turza Bogdan say of these two textbooks that “Although the Hrvatski 1 and Hrvatski 2 textbooks were used since their first edition by hundreds of pupils over several generations, these textbooks did not, unfortunately, receive the attention they undoubtable deserved among Croatian studies specialists. The first comprehensive and scientific analysis was only produced recently, thirty years after their initial publication (Turza Bogdan & Kanajet (C)imiae, 2014). The study confirmed that these textbooks were grounded in the principles of modern language instruction: the lessons are structured by themes and targeted at communication; in classroom instruction equal attention is given to encouraging the development of all linguistic activities (listening, speaking, reading and writing); and the textbooks are based on a comparative approach with the aim of establishing a relationship between all the languages the children use (the English and French of their environment and their Croatian maternal language). Particularly noteworthy is their modern approach to grammar: learning grammar is functional, implicit and gradual, without the use of meta-language or the need to master linguistic terminology.”
When Krasiae moved to Sudbury, HI(C)AK moved with him. Sudbury had for some time been home to Ante Beljo, and I too moved there not long afterwards. Also in this group was Gojko Šušak, another valuable associate. In Toronto we had excellent associates in Marijan Sopta, Jerko Nekić, Robert Megler and in Cambridge Janko Perić. We were up to any task and would often travel, loading up a dozen boxes of books in Krasiae’EUR(TM)s van and driving as far as New Orleans on one occasion to set up an exhibition on the Croatian language at a Slavic studies congress. Friar Krasiae was always the driving force behind these efforts. In many ways he was always standing at the “vanguard of Croatia”. I remember that we once took part in a panel discussion on Croatian film for the AAASS (American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies). Besides the Croatian books we ran the film Genocide Yugoslavia on a television screen, detailing the crimes committed in the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia by the Yugoslav military and Serbian paramilitary forces in the early phases of the war waged against Croatia. A history professor of Serbian background approached Krasiae and myself with great indignation, loudly asking us if we were not ashamed to be showing this material. We retorted equally loudly asking him if there was no shame on his part that these crimes were being committing. Krasiae also asked, and many stopped to listen: “Should Picasso feel ashamed for painting his Guernica, rather than those whose acts are being depicted? Is it a greater crime to discover and reveal a crime than to commit it?” His question quickly ended this unpleasant and not at all “brotherly” exchange.
Shifting back in time again, 1978 saw Krasiae and a group of associates staging seminars in Chicago, Cleveland, Edmonton, Calgary, Kitchener, Windsor, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, Vancouver and Toronto, pooling some 190 participating teachers and school committee members. Wherever they went the lecturers found willing collaborators and new associates. Krasiae had a knack for getting to know people and maintaining contacts.
Training Croatian Language Instructors in the Anglophone Environment
An international seminar was staged at the Laurentian University in Sudbury in 1984 on Croatian language and folklore featuring some forty lecturers, including a number of very well-known Canadian media and education experts. Joining the speakers from Canada and the USA were lecturers and schooling experts from Germany, Argentina, Switzerland and Sweden.
In his article on 25 years of HIŠAK Krasić noted that “The well-known Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Language was adopted at the first international seminar. The declaration was signed by 57 representatives of Croatian institutions and associations. HI(C)AK submitted the declaration, along with accompanying letters, to all European, Australian, American and Canadian governments, and to leading universities, libraries and language and linguistic institutions and associations around the world. The declaration, as was evident from the responses received, had a strong impact on many, including the largest Slavic studies association in the USA, the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, which thereupon amended its “Serbo-Croatian” policies and in 1985 introduced Croatian into their list of official languages.”
Two years later the Laurentian University hosted a second seminar, with friar Ljubo Krasiae once again being the driving force and organiser of the event. He was very much assisted in this by Ante Beljo, Nada Sladojević Šola, Gojko (C)u1ak and many other compatriots in Sudbury and across Canada and the USA. There were even some participants from Australia, including professor Luka Budak of Macquarie University, head of the first Croatian language chair of studies outside of Croatia, who presented an interesting lecture on teaching in the Australian university environment.
Krasiae made a point of having the opening sentence in the letters sent to the various institutions clearly lay out what was being sought and why the letter was being sent; everything else in the letter aimed to elucidate what was laid out in the opening remark.
Another source of help was Šime Ćorić, also a Franciscan friar, who often flew over to Canada. He compiled a very well-received songbook with musical notation of popular Croatian melodies (Croatian Songs – Croatian Through Lyrics & Music). Krasiae handled the layout for the printing of the book. AEoriae also recorded language instruction oral practice sessions in [the northern town of] Timmins at the home of the very helpful Ed (C)pehar who loaned us the use of all the necessary recording equipment. The forward to the songbook notes that “Thus the HI(C)AK schools, musical bands and individuals now have a standardised songbook with musical notation and lyrics, a songbook that will be there whenever they sing, play or dance, to make the happiness greater in joy, to lessen the grief in sorrow, to nurture friendship in songs and to rejuvenate our ties with Croatia.”
This list of all the textbooks, books, tapes and bibliographies friar Ljubo Krasiae worked with others to compile and edit, encourage, assist or prepare is too broad for the scope of this article, but we would be amiss if we did not mention a quadrilingual (Croatian, English, German, French) dictionary for children as the first dictionary to be published in collaboration with a publishing house in Croatia (Kršćanska sadašnjost) and a publisher in the diaspora communities (HIŠAK).
On several occasions HI(C)AK took on some ten ethnic Croatian students on summer jobs to research the Croatian ethnic presence in northern Ontario. The project was funded through the Canadian budget, with the Croatian community required to provide suitable premises and nominate a person to supervise the students for the duration of the project and to lead the project over the summer. Here again Krasiae was the driving force. In 1983 the town of Sudbury celebrated its one hundredth birthday. The ethnic Croatians resident in the town published their own history of the local Croatian community, Croatians in the Sudbury Centennial, co-authored by Krasiae.
The war waged against Croatia in the 1990s led to some abrupt changes. Gojko (C)u1ak and Ante Beljo moved to Croatia, while I moved from Ottawa (where I had worked as a teacher at the Canadian Forces Language School) to hold the chair of Croatian language and culture studies at the University of Waterloo. For his part Krasiae was busy with the numerous affairs of the Croatian culture and social centre in Norval and, frankly, we were all then quite confident that we were doing the best we could at the time, and that when Croatia re-won her independence and set up a new education ministry we would see people with greater expertise take the reins, with greater knowledge and better funding at their disposal.
The number of school locations dropped significantly. By 2007 there were only 28 Croatian language instruction locations in the USA and Canada, with a markedly lower number of pupils attending. The reasons for this are manifold, and it would take too long to enumerate them here, but assimilation certainly played its role and, on the other hand, many young people now spend their summer holidays in Croatia, travelling with or without their parents, which is certainly the best way to learn Croatian and learn about the culture and values of the ancestral homeland. Beyond that there are also now a number of very well organised Croatian language instruction offers for children and students resident outside of Croatia: in Zagreb the instruction programmes organised by the Croatian Heritage Foundation, in Zadar the Lin-Cro International Croatian Language School, and the courses offered by the University of Split.
Krasiae was also a great help in the introduction of the Croatian language at the secondary school level in the province of Ontario in 1976 and in the process of setting up the Chair of Croatian Language and Culture at the University of Waterloo. He also published Anica Miter’s valuable contribution, Croatica in the University of Toronto Library, a bibliographic compilation of the Croatian books kept at Canada’s largest library at which this worthy librarian and poet worked for many years.
After Croatia achieved independence, friar Ljubo Krasiae continued his dedicated work in the publication of textbooks, continuing to collaborate with many schools by provided requested textbooks. He also played a role in seeing a number of books published, including a panorama of Croatian poetry of Bosnia-Herzegovina titled Davno sanjani snovi / Dreams Dreamt Long Ago (Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press, 2009).
In the computer-related (desktop publishing) aspect of the school materials we were greatly assisted by Marko Dumaneiae, head of the computing department for Environmental Studies at the University of Waterloo. It is worth noting that all of the outside associates worked on a volunteer basis.
With Croatian independence secure friar Ljubo Krasiae and the people he worked with could confidently say: Fecimus quod potuimus, potentiores faciant alia! (“I have done what I could; let those who can do better”).
Another institution of great value to Croatians abroad and in the homeland is the Croatian Ethnic Institute of Chicago. Founded by Croatian Franciscans in 1975 it had by 1977 become an American education and research institution. In one report on the objectives that drove the foundation of the institute we read that the “core objective of this institute is to collect documentation and data on Croatian parishes, associations, institutions and individuals in the United States of America and Canada, and then to endeavour to expand this mission to other Croatian parishes outside the homeland and associations and clubs around the world.”
Further we read that the foundation aims to AcEURoecollect all records and documentation that pertain to Croatian emigrant and to the issue of emigration itself. This documentation includes: published books and articles by Croatians, articles and book by others writing on the topic of Croatians and Croatia, private libraries, significant private and official correspondence, works of art, sports trophies, stamps, currency, dolls, handicrafts, photographs, folklore, musical instruments, expired personal identification documents of documentary significance, films and the like.AcEUR
I was stunned by the quantity of material I had previously not known of present at the institute concerning Croatian publicist Bruno Bušić. Speaking on one occasion for an interview on the topic of the Croatian Ethnic Institute, Krasiae noted that there was “astonishing documentary material on hundreds and hundreds of youth singing societies, choirs, and tamburitza orchestras that have performed and are active across the North American continent. It would certainly be interesting to explore the destinies of this great multitude of young ethnic Croatians in America and Canada that grew up with folklore and tamburitza ensembles, bands and church choirs. One thing is for sure, and that is that the peasant occupations of their ancestors have been substituted, thanks to education and perseverance, by a host of more attractive professions in various fields of human endeavour. Many have achieved their “American dream”, but there is also documentation concerning those whose standards of living were starkly different, and to whom fate was not a friend.”
The first director of the institute, from 1975 to 1976 was the writer, playwright and Franciscan friar Hrvoslav Ban. Krasiae led the institute for the next four years (1976-1980) before moving to Sudbury. This was followed by a five-year hiatus after which the leadership of the institute was taken by friar Dionizije Lasiae (1985-1995). He had previously served for many years as a professor at the Antonianum [Pontifical University of Saint Anthony] in Rome and was a laudable publicist and long-standing editor with publisher ZIRAL. Krasiae returned to the institute in 1995 and held its directorship through to his relocation to his native homeland.
It was evident soon after its founding that, besides the library and museum, the institute would need a broader range of content. As a long-time director of the Croatian language instruction programme abroad, Krasiae was well aware that schooling, no matter how meaningful, served only to prepare people before they moved on to further education, and thus the HI(C)AK programme and the institute were the two complementary and contiguous aspects that brought fulfilment to his life.
The institute, with its extensive library (holding some fifteen thousand volumes), has a trove of very diverse correspondence going back over a century, documents from various fields and periods, and had enabled a broad range of studies of Croatian history, demographics, migration, literature, science and artistic creativity among Croatian and the descendants of Croatians in the Unites States of America and Canada. Krasiae’s natural charm and wit opened and sustained many relationships that contributed greatly to these efforts. The work of the institute has been spoken of favourably by Roman Catholic cardinals Franjo Kuhariae and Blaise Cupic, the Croatian president and our ministers and leading figures, musicians and artists, as can be seen in the book of impressions. In his remarks Marko Semren, a Franciscan friar and bishop in Banja Luka, observed that AcEURoeRemembering the past and contemplating it is innately requisite to both individuals and communities. Thanks to the great love expressed by Franciscans we have an opportunity at the Croatian Ethnic Institute to enrich ourselves at the sources of heritage. Musician Nenad Bach had this to say: “Priceless! We are many, and we are able! Hats off for the level of organisation and love demonstrated in collecting a valuable part of our unwritten history. You are the foundation of a better Croatia. From the heart, Nenad Bach.”
Of course, as Krasiae always emphasised, the gratitude should go to all Franciscans as a community, those in the past and those active today, who invested such great care in preserving the legacy of Croatian cultural activity. Also laudable is the work of the current curator, friar Jozo Grbeša, who has undertaken a massive job in the digitalisation of all the valuable material held by the Institute. At times I contemplate the work of the Croatian Ethnic Institute from the other side of what could be: what would in fact have happened to all this valuable material and precious documentation had there never been an institute? One could imagine that when properties changed hands that the cleaning out of many houses would have seen much of it discarded.
During his time in Chicago, along with his regular religious duties as a priest, the work of HI(C)AK and of the institute, Krasiae also edited Hrvatski kalendar (“Croatian Almanac”), which in four volumes presented the lives of fifty Croatians that contributed to or were still active in politics, science, the arts, philosophy, theology, the military, the business sector and sports. These include Ivan Me1troviae, friar Silvije Grubi1iae, friar Dominik Mandiae, Jure Prpiae, Karlo Mirth, Adam Eterovich, Miljenko Grgiae, Mladen Buntich, Janko Periae, Ilija Letica, Peter Tomich, and Mary (Magdiae) Margitich. In the foreword to the 2001 edition we read: “One of the prime objectives of the 2001 Hrvatski kalendar is to showcase encouraging role models for youth and to offers examples worth following. These biographies also offer copious data for further research and serve as a trustworthy source for the media on prominent ethnic Croatians in America and Canada.”
Friar Ljubo Krasiae was decorated in 1995 with the Order of the Croatian Morning Star with the image of Antun Radiae for his work in disseminating Croatian schooling and culture and his contribution to education abroad. In closing it is worth noting that Krasiae was one of those people who imbue everything they do – and he certainly did very much in the field of education and culture – with love and a positive attitude towards people and to the events they live.
Farewell dear Ljubo. May the Croatian soil you so loved rest lightly upon you.
By: Vinko Grubi1iae
Source matis.hr

Odlazak istaknutog misionara Ljube Krasića (Čitluk, 18. o 3/4 ujka 1938. AcEUR” Humac, 21. lipnja 2020.)

Jedan od najuglednijih hrvatskih misionara i prosvjetnih djelatnika u dijaspori 20. stoljeaea fra Ljubo Krasiae zauvijek nas je napustio dana 21. lipnja u Humcu u 83. godini života, 64. godini redovništva i 56 godini svećeništva. Njegove su zasluge u organiziranju hrvatskih prosvjetnih organizacija u emigraciji s ciljem promicanja hrvatskog jezika i kulture u Sjevernoj Americi u razdoblju hladnoratovske podjele svijeta u okviru zapadnih demokratskih dru1tava ogromne. Došavši iz domovine s eruditskom naobrazbom u hrvatske katolieke misije radio je sustavno na širenju hrvatskoga jezika i kulture u anglofonome svijetu, uz sve složene župske obveze kako u Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama tako i Kanadi. Uz brigu o ueenicima i studentima, brinuo se i o izobrazbi nastavnika. Anglofonu sredinu obogatio je organizacijom hrvatskih 1kola, tiskanjem udžbenika, časopisa i knjiga.
Rođen 18. o 3/4 ujka 1938. u Eitluku, u Hercegovini, pohađao je franjevaeku gimnaziju u Visokom, a studij filozofije i teologije u Sarajevu, Zagrebu i Rimu. U franjevaeki red stupio je 1957. godine, a svećeničko ređenje bilo je 1964. u Širokome Brijegu. S franjevcima je fra Ljubo, na određen način, uvijek bio povezan. Tu je odmah nakon ređenja proveo godinu dana u župi, a onda je iz Širokoga Brijega oti1ao u Švicarsku, u Zuerich, gdje ne samo da je uspostavio hrvatsku katolieku misiju, nego je razvio vrlo živu svećeničku i nacionalnu djelatnost. Koliko god je konkordat između Vatikana i ondašnje države imao svoju zlu službenu stranu, dobra je strana u praksi bila 1to su mladi sveaeenici mogli s putovnicama bez problema doći u inozemstvo i nastaviti ne samo vjerske, nego i nacionalne djelatnosti koje su njihovi prethodnici, hrvatski emigrantski svećenici, otpočeli i držali dugi niz godina. To je uvijek bilo u skladu i suradnji s njihovim vrijednim prethodnicima. Eim je fra Ljubo do1ao u Švicarku pokrenuo je misijski list Movis (hrvatski bi to značilo “Pokrećeš se”, “Krećeš se”), koji je i okupljao i obavještavao Hrvate diljem (C)vicarske o vjerskim i nacionalnim događajima. Bila su upravo velebna hodočašća u Einsiedelnu u (C)vicarskoj gdje se okupljalo tisuaee hrvatskih vjernika iz raznih dijelova Švicarske, Njemačke, a mnogi su sudjelovali i iz Hrvatske. Sjeaeam se samo oduševljenja kojim je dočekana tadašnja glazbena grupa zagrebaekih bogoslova (R)eteoci. U (C)vicarskoj je u okvirima Hrvatske katolieke misije, a i u suradnji s Hrvatskim društvom, fra Ljubo organizirao razlieita predavanja o hrvatskome jeziku, književnosti i kulturi, a među predavačima su bili i neki poznati književnici i jezikoslovci iz Hrvatske. Nakon četverogodišnjeg boravka u (C)vicarskoj (1967.-1971.), fra Ljubo je proveo tri godine postdiplomskih studija u Rimu na Alphonsianumu. Tada je zdušno surađivao s novoosnovanim izdavaeem, ZIRAL-om, kojem su bili na eelu poznati intelektualci fra Dionizije Lasiae i Lucijan Kordiae.
Dolaskom u SAD 1974. godine, fra Ljubo postaje pomoćnim žutpnikom u župi sv. Ćirila i Metoda u New Yorku, a samo godinu kasnije imenovan je ravnateljem Hrvatskoga etniekog instituta u Chicagu, ali se iduće 1976. godine vraaea u Mostar gdje radi sa studentima. Godine 1977. ponovno je u Americi, sada trajnije u Chicagu, gdje nastavlja rad na Hrvatskom etniekom institutu, uz redovite i mnogobrojne poslove u 3/4 upi sv. Jeronima u istom gradu. Od 1980. do 1987. župnik je u Sudburyju u 3/4 upi gdje su vjernici Hrvati skupa s fra Ljubom kupili krasnu crkvu i nazvali je crkvom sv. Marka. U preuređenoj dvorani ispod crkve održavale su se mnogobrojne aktivnosti i odatle, te ujedno iz Doma Hrvatske seljaeke stranke, djelovala je godinama tada vrlo popularna 1kolska ustanova HI(C)AK (Hrvatske izvandomovinske 1kole Amerike i Kanade, kojima su se kasnije pridružile škole u Australiji i nekoliko europskih škola). Nakon Sudburyja fra Ljubo je bio upravitelj Hrvatskoga kulturno-dru1tveno centra u Norvalu (od 1987. do 1995.), a odatle ponovno odlazi u Chicago za ravnatelja Hrvatskog etniekog instituta. Iz Chicaga odlazi 1996. u rodnu Hercegovinu.
To bi bio onaj površni opis životnog toka jednog čovjeka, svećenika, intelektualca, ali bi nam se AcEUR” s obzirom na hrvatsku kuturu i prosvjetu AcEUR” valjalo na svakoj adresi temeljito zaustaviti. Dolaskom u Rim pojavila se fra Ljubina studija na njemaekome jeziku Školovanje djece razlieitih nacionalnosti iz Jugoslavije u europskim zemljama (“Die Schulung der Kinder verschiedener Nationalitaeten aus Jugoslawien in den europaeischen Laendern”, Rim, 1972. godine), gdje je do1ao do izražaja fra Ljubin smisao za sociološka istraživanja koja su ga uvijek privlaeila. U suradnji s Centrom za migracijske studije (“Center for Migrations Studies”) u New Yorku nastala je takoder njegova dvojeziena studija, na 114 stranica, kao rezultat rada na “sociološkim istraživanjima migranata” (“Sociological Investigations on Migrants”), na hrvatskome i engleskome pod naslovom Društveni i vjerski profil Hrvata u Americi i Kanadi – Upitnik (“Adjustment and Religious Profile among Croatians in U.S.A. and Canada – Intervju Schedule”).
Krajem srpnja i prvih dana kolovoza sastala se grupa sveaeenika – koji su ujedno bili voditelji misija i u najviše slučajeva organizatori i voditelji hrvatskih izvandomovinskih škola. Sastanak je bio u Hrvatskome centru Sv. Nikola Tavelić” u New Yorku gdje su svi pojedinaeno iznijeli izvje1taj o 1koli u sklopu svoje misije te 1to sve treba ueiniti kako bi 1kolska nastava tih 1kola bila 1to bolja i što učinkovitija. Književnik franjevac Hrvoslav Ban s mnogo optimizma primjećuje: “… imajući na okupu ljude koji dolaze s iskustvom iz prakse – mo 3/4 emo svi brzo i konkretno uočiti najvažnije probleme i nedostatke i donijeti zakljueke koji aee zbilja znaeiti novu stranicu u povijesti izvandomovinskog školstva”. I tu je “novu stranicu” najvećim dijelom napisao upravo fra Ljubo Krasiae, i to od samoga osnivanja HI(C)AK-a. On je eitavo vrijeme postojanja HI(C)AK-a bio njegov spiritus movens.
Sustav hrvatskih izvandomovinskih 1kola Amerike i Kanade
Na tom osnivaekom sastanku svi su se sudionici složili da je glavni problem hrvatskih izvandomovinskih 1kola u nedostatku prikladnih priruenika i u neprihvatljvosti tadašnjih školskih materijala iz Hrvatske. Trebalo je pripremiti priruenike za djecu hrvatskih 1kola koje su se polovicom sedamdesetih godina osnivale posvuda gdje je živjela veća grupa Hrvata. Osnivanje 1kola pokretali su pojedinci u raznim gradovima, a svima je u svako doba fra Ljubo bio od pomoći. Tako je veae 1978. HIŠAK obuhvaćao 55 1kola, kojima se te iste godine pridružilo 12 1kola iz Australije. Uskoro se HIŠAK-u priključuje i dvadesetak 1kola iz europskih zemalja: iz Njemaeke, Francuske, (C)vicarske i (C)vedske. Od tada HIŠAK označuje “Hrvatske 1kole Amerike, Australije i Kanade”. Godine 1984./85. bilo je vi1e od sto škola članica HIŠAK-a. To su ujedno godine kad su hrvatske izvandomovinske škole obuhvaćale najveći broj ueenika.
Ubrzo nakon osnivanja HI(C)AK-a fra Ljubo je priredio dvije knjige za hrvatske škole: Hrvatski jezik 1 za 1. i 2. razred te Hrvatski jezik 2 za 3. i 4. razred. Pokazalo se da nisu sadržavale dovoljno gradiva za eetiri razreda i trebalo je prirediti nove knjige. To je najbolje uvidio sam fra Ljubo.
U jednom intervjuu je istaknuo: “Nije bilo jednostavno pronaći autore, prirediti udžbenike, osigurati sredstva za izradu, tiskanje i slanje na eetiri kontinenta. U svemu tome bilo je ipak dobro i možda presudno to 1to smo svi sve radili dragovoljno. Najveća je plaća i nagrada bila što tisuće hrvatske djece, koji su sada veae i roditelji i ueitelji i profesori, danas govore hrvatski i živi su most stare i nove domovine. S druge pak strane, svi hrvatski svećenici i časne sestre, kao i marni roditelji i drugi hrvatski ljudi, nesebieno su podupirali taj rad.”
U sklopu kanadskoga multikulturalizma, a slieno je bilo i u Australiji, predavao se posebno srpski jezik i posebno hrvatski. U kanadskome multikulturalizmu tada su s hrvatske strane bili posebno aktivni Ante Beljo u Sudburyju i Gojko (C)u1ak u Ottawi. Prema istraživanju Slavka Granića, koje se temelji na Education Statistics, Ontario iz godine 1983./84., za hrvatski jezik bilo je 2.795 ueenika u Ontariju, a za srpski 1984./85. bilo je 499 ueenika. Najbrojnija hrvatska 1kola u Ontariju i Kanadi bila je hrvatska subotnja 1kola u Torontu, kojoj su godinama bili vrijedni ravnatelji dr. Vladimir Bubrin i dr. Marija Kraljeviae.
Trebalo je, dakle, pripremiti priruenike i snimljene materijale za govorne vježbe za hrvatske škole. Knjige su priređivane tako da su najprije bile u obliku radnih listova poslane 1kolama i tek nakon provjere s ueenicima, ti su materijali priređivani za školske priručnike. Obje knjige prošle su potrebne recenzije i njihovo je tiskanje financirala kanadska vlada. Obje knjige doživjele su nekoliko izdanja i kasnije su objavljene u Hrvatskoj, uz prikladne priruenike za predavače. Treća i četvrta knjiga Hrvatski jezik 3 i Hrvatski jezik 4 priređene su u suradnji s profesoricom Ladom Kanajet (C)imiae, ali zastalo se u pitanjima ilustracija. Cijena knjiga bila je vrlo niska, a cilj je bio da se omogući daljnje tiskanje knjiga i da one budu dostupne svoj djeci koja su bila u hrvatskim školama.
O tim dvjema knjigama autorice teksta “Hrvatske izvandomovinske 1kole – jamac oeuvanja hrvatskoga jezika”, Lidija Cvikiae, Lada Kanajet (C)imiae i Tamara Turza Bogdan kažu: “Premda su se ud 3/4 benicima Hrvatski 1 i Hrvatski 2 od njihova prvog izdanja služile stotine ueenika u nekoliko generacija, ti udžbenici, nažalost, u struenoj i znanstvenoj kroatistiekoj javnosti nisu dobili pozornost koju nedvojbeno zaslužuju. Prva je opsežnija i znanstveno utemeljena analiza ueinjena tek nedavno, nakon vi1e od 30 godina od njihova prvog objavljivanja (Turza Bogdan i Kanajet (C)imiae, 2014.). Provedeno istraživanje potvrdilo je da je rijee o ud 3/4 benicima koji se temelje na naeelima suvremene nastave jezika: lekcije su tematski ustrojene i komunikacijski usmjerene, u nastavi se jednaka pozornost posvećuje poticanju razvoja svih jezienih djelatnosti (slušanja, govorenja, eitanja i pisanja), a radi uspostave odnosa medu jezicima kojima djeca vladaju (okolinski engleski/francuski te materinski/obiteljski hrvatski) ud 3/4 benici se temelje i na suprotstavljenom pristupu. Posebno je va 3/4 no istaknuti njihov suvremen pristup gramatici: ueenje gramatike je funkcionalno, implicitno i postupno, lišeno metajezika i ovladavanja jezikoslovnim znanjem.”
Kada se fra Ljubo preselio u Sudbury, s njime se tamo doselio i HI(C)AK. U Sudburyju je veae dulje vremena bio nastanjen Ante Beljo, a uskoro sam se i ja doselio u Sudbury. U toj grupi bio je vrijedan suradnik i Gojko Šušak. U Torontu smo imali vrijedne suradnike Marijana Soptu, Jerku Nekića, Roberta Meglera i u Cambridgeu Janka Perića. Ništa nam nije bilo te1ko pa smo znali putovati u razna mjesta, natovariti po desetak kutija knjiga u fra Ljubin kombi i voziti sve eak do New Orleansa kako bismo pripremili izložbu hrvatske pisane rijeei na slavistiekim kongresima. Fra Ljubo je uvijek u svemu tome bio spiritus movens. Na odreden naein uvijek je bio “na braniku Hrvatske”. Sjeaeam se kad smo jednom u sklopu Američkog udruženja slavista za unapređenje slavenskih studija (popularni AAASS – American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies) imali panel o hrvatskome filmu, gdje je uz hrvatske knjige na istaknutome mjestu bio na televizijskom ekranu stalno prikazivan film Genocide Yugoslavia, o grozotama koje su JNA i srpska vojska einili po Slavoniji poeetkom agresije na Hrvatsku, kako je jedan srpski profesor, povjesniear, sasvim bijesan pristupio fra Ljubi i meni i rekao nam vrlo glasno kako nas nije sram tako ne1to prikazivati. Odgovorili smo isto vrlo glasno kako to da njih nije bio sram ovakvo nešto učiniti. Fra Ljubo je dodao – a mnogi su zastali i slušali taj na1 razgovor u povišenim tonovima: “Zar bi se Picasso trebao sramiti 1to je naslikao Guerniku, a ne one koji su Guerniku ueinili? Zar je veći zločin otkriti i prikazati zloein, nego ueiniti taj isti zloein?” Bio je to kraj toga muenog ne baš odveć “bratskog” dijaloga.
Godine 1978. fra Ljubo s grupom suradnika održava školske seminare u Chicagu, Clevelandu, Edmontonu, Calgaryju, Kitcheneru, Windsoru, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudburyju, Vancouveru i Torontu, a na tim seminarima sudjelovalo je oko 190 učitelja i članova školskih odbora. Predavaei su u svim mjestima gdje su nastupali nailazili na suradnju i pronalazili nove suradnike. Fra Ljubo je uvijek znao izvrsno uspostaviti i održavati kontakte.

Stručno usavršavanje nastavnika hrvatskoga jezika u anglofonom svijetu
Godine 1984. u Sudburyju, na Laurentian sveučilištu, održan je medunarodni seminar hrvatskoga jezika i folklora, a nastupilo je četrdesetak predavača među kojima su bili i neki vrlo poznati kanadski struenjaci za priopćajna sredstva i pitanja školstva. Osim iz Kanade i SAD-a, bili su nazočni školski stručnjaci i predavači iz Njemaeke, Argentine, (C)vicarske i (C)vedske.
Utekstu “EURžHI(C)AK – 25 godina djelovanja” fra Ljubo kaže: “Na Prvome međunarodnom seminaru donesena je poznata Declaration on the Name and Status of the Croatian Language (Deklaracija o imenu i statusu hrvatskoga jezika). Deklaraciju je potpisalo 57 predstavnika hrvatskih ustanova i udruga. HI(C)AK ju je poslao, zajedno s popratnim pismima, svim europskim, australskim, ameriekim i kanadskim vladama, kao i svim vodećim sveučilištima, knjižnicama te jezienim i jezikoslovnim ustanovama i udrugama diljem svijeta. Deklaracija je, kako se vidi iz pristiglih odgovora, izvršila snažan utjecaj na mnoge, uključujući i najveće udruženje za slavistieke studije u Americi – American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies, koje je nakon toga promijenilo svoju ‘srpsko-hrvatsku’ politiku i 1985. godine uvelo hrvatski na popis službenih jezika”.
Dvije godine kasnije na istom sveučilištu održan je Drugi medunarodni seminar hrvatskoga jezika i folklora, a glavni organizator i opet spiritus movens bio je fra Ljubo Krasiae. Imao je takoder u tome veliku pomoae Ante Belje, Nade Sladojević Šole, Gojka Šuška i još mnogih Hrvatica i Hrvata u Sudburyju i diljem Kanade i SAD-a. Bilo je eak nekoliko sudionika iz Australije, medu njima i proeelnik Prve hrvatske katedre izvan Hrvatske s Macquarie sveučilišta, prof. Luke Budaka, koji je održao zanimljivo predavanje o sveučilišnome životu u Australiji.
Kad je rijee od opisima kojekakvim institucijama, fra Ljubo je eesto znao naglasiti da se u svakom dopisu veae u prvoj reeenici treba jasno reći što se hoće i zašto se dopis upućuje. A sve 1to nakon toga pi1e u dopisu na određeni način je objašnjenje te prve reeenice.
Od velike nam je pomoaei bio i fra (C)ime AEoriae koji bi se eesto “zaletio” k nama u Kanadu pa je priredio vrlo popularnu pjesmaricu s notama Najpjevanije hrvatske pjesme – Hrvatski kroz liriku i glazbu / Croatian Songs – Croatian through Lyrics and Music, a za tisak je knjigu uredio fra Ljubo. Fra (C)ime je zaslu 3/4 an i za snimanje govornih vježbi, koje smo obavili u Timinsu, u domu vrijednog Ede Špehara koji nam je stavio na raspolaganje sve potrebne uređaje za snimanje. U predgovoru izdavaea knjige Hrvatske pjesme – stoji: “Tako HIŠAK-ove škole, glazbeni sastavi i pojedinci dobivaju standardnu pjesmaricu s notama i rijeeima, pjesmaricu koja aee im pomoaei da u svakoj prigodi zapjevaju, zasviraju i poskoee, da veselje u radosti bude veće, da tuga u žalosti postane manja, da prijateljstva uz pjesmu rastu, a veze odseljenih s Hrvatskom da se pomlađuju.”
Daleko bi nas odvelo kad bismo ovdje navodili sve priruenike, knjige i vrpce te bibliografije koje je u suradnji s drugima priređivao, poticao, pomagao ili pripremao fra Ljubo Krasiae, ali ipak trebamo spomenuti eetverojezieni rjeenik za djecu: hrvatski-engleski-njemaeki-francuski, i to zbog toga 1to je to prvi objavljeni rjeenik u suradnji jedne izdavačke kuće iz Hrvatske (a to je Kr1aeanska sada1njost) i jednoga emigrantskog izdavaea, a to je HI(C)AK.
HI(C)AK je u nekoliko navrata zapošljavao tijekom ljetnih praznika desetak hrvatskih studenata na projektima ispitivanja povijesti hrvatske nazoenosti u sjevernom Ontariju. Kanadska dr 3/4 ava financirala je taj projekt, ali je hrvatska zajednica trebala dati prikladne prostorije i predložiti osobu koja aee biti stalno sa studentima i voditi projekte tijekom radnih ljetnih mjeseci. I opet se fra Ljubo pokazao spiritus movens.
Godine 1983. Sudbury je slavio stogodišnjicu i Hrvati toga grada objavili su zanimljivu povijest tamošnje hrvatske zajednice pod naslovom Croatians in the Sudbury Centennial, a fra Ljubo je bio suautor.
Agresijom na Hrvatsku 1990-ih godina stvari su se naglo promijenile. Gojko (C)u1ak i Ante Beljo vratili su se u Hrvatsku, ja sam iz Ottawe (gdje sam radio u Kanadskoj vojnoj školi) otišao na Katedru hrvatskoga jezika i kulture na Sveučilištu Waterloo, fra Ljubo je bio zauzet mnogim poslovima u Hrvatskome kulturno-društvenom centru u Norvalu, a iskreno govoreći svi smo tada bili duboko uvjereni da smo radili vrijeme kako smo najbolje znali i umjeli te da aee ostvarivanjem hrvatske neovisnosti i osnivanjem posebice ministarstva za prosvjetu nastupiti struenija ekipa koja aee raspolagati i znanjem i sredstvima. Broj 1kola naglo se smanjuje pa je 2007. godine u SAD-u i Kanadi bilo 28 hrvatskih 1kola sa znatno manjim brojem ueenika. Razlozi su mnogi i ovdje bi ih bilo te1ko nabrojati, ali asimilacija svakako eini svoje, a s druge strane danas mnogi ueenici, s roditeljima ili bez njih, provedu ljetne praznike u Hrvatskoj, 1to im je svakako najbolji naein ueenja hrvatskoga jezika i upoznavanja hrvatskih kulturnih vrijednosti. Također, postoji i nekoliko izvrsno organiziranih 1kola za hrvatsku djecu i studente izvan Hrvatske, u Zagrebu u sklopu Hrvatske matice iseljenika, u Zadru je to Lin-Cro (“International Croatian Language School”) te u Splitu Splitsko sveučilište. Fra Ljubo je bio od velike pomoaei i pri uvođenju hrvatskoga jezika u srednje 1kole u provinciji Ontario, 1976. godine, kao i pri uspostavi Katedre za hrvatski jezik i kulturu na Waterloo sveučilištu. Objavio je takoder i iznimno vrijednu knjigu Anice Miter, Croatica in the University of Toronto Library, popis hrvatskih knjiga u najbogatijoj kanadskoj knji 3/4 nici, tj. u Torontskoj sveučilišnoj knjižnici, u kojoj je ta vrijedna hrvatska knjižničarka i pjesnikinja radila dugi niz godina.
I dalje, nakon 1to je Hrvatska postigla neovisnost, fra Ljubo se zdu1no bavi objavljivanjem ponekih priruenika, ostaje u suradnji s raznim školama, a i dostavlja im tražene priručnike. Ujedno je zaslu 3/4 an da su neke knjige objavljene kao, primjerice, Panorama hrvatske poezije Herceg-Bosne Davno sanjani snovi / Dreams Dreamt Long Ago (Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press, 2009.).
Što se tiee kompjutorskih obrada raznih 1kolskih materijala, u tome nam je uvelike pomagao mr. Marko Dumančić, pročelnik kompjutorskoga odjela na Studijama za okoliš (“Environmental Studies”) Sveučilišta Waterloo. Treba ovdje navesti i to da su sve suradnje vanjskih suradnika bile bez ikakve noveane nadoknade.
Fra Ljubo i njegovi suradnici mogli su nakon proglašenja hrvatske neovisnosti mirne duše reći: Fecimus quod potuimus, potentiores faciant alia! – Učinismo što smo mogli, drugo neka učine moćniji!
Nakladnieka djelatnost u reprezentativnom Hrvatskom etniekom institutu
Druga institucija koja je ima golemu vrijednost ne samo za Hrvate izvan Hrvatske, nego i za Hrvate u Hrvatskoj, jest Hrvatski etnieki institut koji su osnovali hrvatski franjevci u Chicagu 1975. godine, a veae je 1977. Institut postao “obrazovna i znanstvena amerieka ustanova”. U jednom izvještaju o Institutu o svrsi njegova utemeljenja eitamo: “Glavna svrha ovom institutu jest prikupiti dokumentaciju i podatke o hrvatskim župama, društvima, ustanovama i pojedincima u Americi i Kanadi, a zatim nastojati taj posao proširiti i na ostale hrvatske izvandomovinske župe, društva i klubove po svijetu.”
Dalje pi1e: “Skupljati sve spise i dokumentaciju koja se odnosi na hrvatske iseljenike i na sam problem iseljavanja. Ta dokumentacija obuhvaća: objavljene knjige i elanke Hrvata, elanke i knjige drugih pisaca koji pišu o Hrvatima i Hrvatskoj, privatne knjižnice, privatna i službena pisma i dopisivanja koja imaju izvjesnu važnost, umjetnička djela, sportske trofeje, markice, novce, lutke, rukotvorine, fotografije, folklor, glazbala, osobne isprave eiji je rok važenja istekao, ali imaju dokumentarno obilježje, filmove i slieno.”
Zaeudio sam se kad sam u Institutu vidio, na primjer, toliko podataka o hrvatskome publicistu Bruni Bušiću za koje se nije znalo. “Zadivljujuća je dokumentacijska grada o stotinama i stotinama mladih pjevačkih društava, zborova i tamburaških orkestara koji su djelovali i djeluju diljem sjeverno-ameriekog kontinenta. Bilo bi svakako zanimljivo istražiti što se dogada s tim nepreglednim mnoštvom mladih ameriekih i kanadskih Hrvata koji odrastaju uz folklorne i tamburaške skupine, glazbene sastave i crkvene pjevaeke zborove. Jedno je sigurno, a to je da su težačka zanimanja svojih predaka, zahvaljujući obrazovanju i upornosti, zamijenili mnogim atraktivnijim strukama u raznim podruejima ljudske djelatnosti. Mnogi su ostvarili amerieki san, no ima dokumentacije o onima eiji su životni uvjeti bili posve drukeiji i kojima sudbina nije bila sklona”, ka 3/4 e fra Ljubo u jednom intervjuu o Hrvatskom etniekom institutu.
Prvi ravnatelj instituta (1975./76.) bio je poznati hrvatski pisac i dramaturg fra Hrvoslav Ban, a onda je Institut u eetiri godine, sve do odlaska u Sudbury (1976.-1980.), vodio fra Ljubo. Zatim nastupa petogodišnji zastoj nakon kojega Institut preuzima bivši dugogodišnji profesor na Antonianumu u Rimu, a nakon toga zaslužni hrvatski publicist, dugogodi1nji urednik ZIRAL-a fra Dionizije Lasiae (1985.-1995.). Fra Ljubo se vraaea na Institut 1995. godine i ostaje njegov ravnatelj sve do povratka u Hrvatsku.
Uz knjižnicu i muzej, odmah nakon osnutka Instituta pokazala se potreba za novim sadržajima. Fra Ljubo, kao dugogodi1nji direktor hrvatskih izvandomovinskih 1kola, znao je vrlo dobro da 1kole, koliko god bile sadržajne, tek pripremaju i upućuju ljude u daljnju praksu pa za fra Ljubu HI(C)AK i Institut bijahu dva životna ispunjenja koja se stalno dodiruju i upotpunjuju.
Institut s tako bogatom knjižnicom (oko 15.000 svezaka knjiga), s prikupljenom najrazlieitijom korespondencijom duljom od jednog stoljeća, dokumentima s raznih podrueja i iz razlieitih vremena, omogućavao je razlieito znanstveno proueavanje hrvatske povijesti, demografije, migracija, književnih, znanstvenih i umjetniekih stvaranja Hrvata i hrvatskih potomaka u SAD-u i Kanadi. Svojom prirođenom vještinom uspostavljanja i održavanja međuljudskih odnosa tu je fra Ljubo ueinio zaista mnogo. Pohvale Institutu izrekli su kardinali Franjo Kuhariae i kardinal Blaise Cupic, predsjednica Republike Hrvatske, neki hrvatski ministri i državnici, glazbenici i umjetnici, koji u spomen-knjigu zapisaše svoje dojmove. Tako banjolueki biskup fra Marko Semren pi1e: “EURžSjeaeati se prošlosti i razmišljati o njoj jest urođena potreba pojedinca i zajednice. Zahvaljujući velikoj ljubavi franjevaca imamo prigodu obogatiti se na izvorima baštine u ovom Hrvatskom etniekom institutu.” Ili rijeei poznatoga glazbenika Nenada Bacha: “Priceless! Ima nas i možemo! Svaka Vam east na organiziranošću i ljubavi kojom ste skupili vrijedan dio naše još neispisane povijesti. Vi ste temelj bolje Hrvatske. Od srca, Nenad Bach.” Naravno, kao 1to je i fra Ljubo isticao, tu su zasluge svih franjevaca kao zajednice, onih iz prošlih vremena kao i današnjih, koji su s toliko brige prikupljali hrvatska kulturna dobra. Velika je zasluga današnjeg kustosa fra Joze Grbe1a koji se dao na veliki pothvat – digitaliziranje svih tih vrijednih materijala koji se nalaze u Institutu. Ponekad o Hrvatskom etniekom institutu razmišljam s one obrnute strane – 1to bi stvarno bilo od tih tako vrijednih materijala, od te dragocjene dokumentacije da nije bilo Instituta? Možemo pretpostaviti da bi smjenom kućevlasnika, pri “čišćenju” kuće nestali mnogi materijali.
Živeći u Chicagu, fra Ljubo je uz sve redovite vjerske svećeničke dužnosti, HIŠAL i Institut, pripremao i uređivao godišnjak Hrvatski kalendar, gdje u eetiri broja donosi životopise pedeset Hrvata koji su djelovali ili jo1 uvijek djeluju u raznim podruejima politike, znanosti, umjetnosti, filozofije, teologije, zatim vojnih dostojanstvenika i onih koji su postigli znaeajne korake u poduzetništvu ili športu. Među njima su Ivan Me1troviae, fra Silvije Grubi1iae, fra Dominik Mandiae, Jure Prpiae, Karlo Mirth, Adam Eterovich, Miljenko Grgiae, Mladen Buntich, Janko Periae, Ilija Letica, Peter Tomich, Mary (Magdiae) Margitich i dr. U predgovoru ovoga godišnjaka za 2001. godinu stoji: AcEURžJedan od prvotnih ciljeva Hrvatskog kalendara 2001. jest pokazati mladima poticajne uzore za rad i dati im primjere koje mogu slijediti. Biografije u isto vrijeme pružaju obilje podataka za daljnja istraživanja, a medijima su pouzdan izvor informacija o istaknutim Hrvatima u Americi i Kanadi.
Za širenje hrvatske prosvjete i kulture te za doprinos hrvatskog 1kolstva u svijetu fa Ljubo Krasiae odlikovan je Redom Danice hrvatske s likom Antuna Radića 1995. godine. Na kraju treba naglasiti da je fra Ljubo jedan od onih koji sve 1to su radili, a puno je toga pokrenuo na prosvjetnom i kulturnom podrueju, radio je s ljubavlju i pozitivnim odnosom prema ljudima i pojavama.
Zbogom dragi fra Ljubo, neka Ti je laka hrvatska gruda koju si neizmjerno volio.
Prof. dr. sc. Vinko Grubi1iae, Kanada
Izvor www.hrvatski-fokus.hr

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