Stepinac decided to become a priest and went to Rome in 1924.
During 1924–1929 he obtained two doctorates (one in theology,
the other in philosophy) and returned home in October 1930. He
was then appointed secretary to the archbishop of Zagreb and in
June 1934 was nominated to be coadjutor of the archbishop. When
the archbishop died in December 1937, Stepinac became archbishop
of Zagreb. Stepinac's behavior during World War II is
controversial. Some sources accuse him of direct involvement
with the fascist Ustashi regime, while others maintain that he
acted with diffidence toward the government. In any case, with
the end of the war, Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito
proposed that Stepinac establish an autonomous Catholic Church
independent of the Vatican. He refused and on 18 September 1946
was arrested and charged with cooperating with the Ustashi
regime. In October 1946 Stepinac was sentenced to sixteen years
imprisonment. He remained in prison until 1951, when Tito's
government commuted his sentenc