all violence committed in the name of theories of class, race, or nationality. It is not permissible to persecute Gypsies or Jews because they are thought to be an inferior race. In a sermon on 25 October 1942, he further commented on racial acceptance: We affirm then that all peoples and races descend from God. In fact, there exists but one race ... The members of this race can be white or black, they can be separated by oceans or live on the opposing poles, [but] they remain first and foremost the race created by God, according to the precepts of natural law and positive Divine law as it is written in the hearts and minds of humans or revealed by Jesus Christ, the son of God, the sovereign of all peoples. In response to criticisms by the Yugoslav government in exile, that the Church had not done enough to counter Ustaše crimes, in May 1943 Stepinac wrote a letter to the Papal secretary in which he acknowledged the crimes, yet praised the Ustaše, among other reasons, for fighting abortion and pornography, with Stepinac blaming Jews and Serbs for both. In his homily of 31 October 1943, which some claim is his most resolute critique of the Ustaše, Stepinac first inveighed against abortion, the "pagan fashions of today's female world" and "all the licentiousness ... that has been observed ... at sea beaches and other bathing spots". He blames these "sins" for the fact that "God like thunder today brings down not just cities and villages, but entire peoples". The speech's primary theme is the defense of the Church's actions, against those who "accuse us of not having arisen in timely or appropriate fashion against the crimes in parts of our homeland". Stepinac states that "the Church cannot force others to behave according to God's laws" and cannot be responsible for "the hotheads in its own priestly ranks". He proclaims it was not the Church that "created in the souls of people the dissatisfaction and insatiability which has produced such sad consequences", instead he blames "certain circles, organizations, and members of other national groups", which some sources state is a reference to Serbs and perhaps Jews. Stepinac then criticizes Communism, its denial of private property rights, its approval of divorce, negation of God, refusal to allow religious education in schools, etc. Finally at the end of the homily he states: