Western historians, including Jozo Tomasevich[2] and Gregor Kranjc[3] have also, more recently, described Rožman as a collaborator, based on his proclamations and actions during the war.

The Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia has been actively campaigning for his rehabilitation, claiming his actions were motivated solely to minimize the number of Slovenian casualties during the war.

He published essays in the newsletter of Carinthian Slovenes Mir and also (under the pseudonym "Emil Fanič") in the handwritten student journal Vaje, for which he edited six issues from 7th grade until graduation.

Carinthian bishop Adam Hefter established a special vicariate in Ebendorf (Slovene: Dobrla Vas) in July 1919 and appointed Rožman as a judicial consultant of general vicar provost Matija Raindl.

He wrote an important essay titled Church and politics (Slovene: Cerkev in politika) (publication date unknown) which would become very relevant in the Second World War.

At the time of revolution, the highest duty of the government and the citizens is to end chaos as soon as possible and to build on the ruins of the old a new state, which will function as a device of public prosperity.

After it was rebuilt in the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Orel greatly expanded its membership, but neglected its spiritual and religious side.

He proposed a compromise, saying that the Catholic Church is required to pastorally attend anyone that counts himself as its member, but that its missionary activity could be advanced by success in sports, especially among the youth.

He emphasized the need for youth to be part of Christian organisations, because if the youngsters were left alone, they could easily fall under the influence of materialism and so become communists or social democrats.

After leaving Orel, he focused on the Marian societies (Slovene: Marijine Družbe), but mainly on Catholic Action, in which he saw the strongest tool for the renewal of his diocese.

The Canadian historian Gregor Kranjc notes "In [SLS] propaganda the Catholic Church and national traditions were facing a colossal struggle against atheistic, international revolutionaries".

[5] Rožman played a key role in arranging an audience with the pope for the Ustaše leader Ante Pavelić, head of the fascist, Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia.

[18]: 46 In August 1942, the Italian generals Roatta and Robotti visited Rožman and told him they would burn the whole Province of Ljubljana and kill or deport all of its inhabitants if the attacks by Partisans did not stop.

Only the German translation was located, leaving unanswered questions about its authors and quality of translation (the memorandum is in many respects similar to one written in April 1942 by the Rev Lambert Ehrlich, Ljubljana University theologian and supervisor of a right-wing Slovene Catholic student youth group, who the fascist authorities to arm Slovenes to fight the Partisans[24]) The bishop's contribution is unknown other than that he delivered the memorandum to General Robotti, commander of the Italian 11th Army Corps.

We have chosen order, and propose the only way that in our humble opinion will be effective and certain to achieve complete order in active collaboration with the authorities.The document containing the German translation is in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Also preserved are Robotti's notes in which he refers to Rožman as the author and adds, "[T]he security guards that the bishop suggests, correspond with local militias that have the task of defending their villages against communists, and to be available for actions in the local area – there are many such militias, which count a total of 1,000 men.

Jozo Tomasevich indicated that the bishop's support led to the rapid growth of the Italian-led MVAC units, which absorbed "The Legion of Death" forces which had informally collaborated with the Italians in their brutal offensive against the Partisans in the summer of 1942.

The first of these was a letter the leadership of the Liberation Front sent to Rožman on 30 November 1941[28] They noted the increasing involvement of priests with right-wing groups which would form the core of Slovene collaborationist forces.

As with previous letters, Rožman did not respond to Kocbek either[28] The Liberation Front included many believers in its ranks,[29] and some 40 priests joined the partisans in Ljubljana Province alone.

For Rožman as well as for the most Church representatives, the fact that by communists dominated the "Liberation Front" (and performed murderous sanctions against the perceived traitors) presented a special dilemma.

The bishop rejected in 1938 as irrelevant for Slovenia the Pope's clarification to French Roman Catholics that the encyclical did not require absolute noncooperation with Communists.

In 1943, after the siege and fall of Turjak and Battle of Grčarice, followed by mass liquidations at Jelendol, Mozelj and other places and the show trial in Kočevje[31] he dedicated all four Advent sermons to the evils of Communist ideology, citing Russia and Spain.

Rožman was photographed multiple times at formal and informal events chatting with SS General Erwin Rösener, the commander of German forces in the province, who reported directly to Heinrich Himmler.

He declined to hold the mass at the second oath of allegiance to German forces on 30 January 1945 (the anniversary of the Nazi's coming to power), but Rožman appeared on the main stand, next to SS-General Erwin Rösener, while reviewing the Home Guard troops in front of the Ursuline Church.

[18]: 292  In his Christmas message to the SS-commanded Home Guard at the end of 1944, Rožman wrote: "You are defending your nation against wolves and jackals ... who are poisoning souls with the foreign mentality of atheistic communism".

[23]: 132  In a January 1944 Rožman wrote the commander of the Home Guard to emphasize the importance of Slovene Catholic chaplains in installing combativeness and ideological enthusiasm among the troops.

Opposed to the western Allies' recognition of the Partisans and their support for the Tito-Šubašić Agreement, on April 21,1945 Rožman and Leon Rupnik wrote the Ustashe leader, Ante Pavelić, proposing a political and military alliance to continue fighting the Partisans, and to try to gain recognition for the Slovene Home Guard, Ustashe and Chetniks from the Western allies, for a postwar Yugoslavia .

[47] Various leading Catholic figures from Yugoslavia were indicted for alleged war crimes, but escaped from justice, including Bishop Ivan Šarić of Vrhbosna in Sarajevo, who had supported the forcible conversion of non-Catholics to Catholicism.

[48] Rožman began to appear in American and British intelligence reports as being involved in ratlines that spirited wanted Axis and collaborationist fugitives out of Europe.

By the end of May 1948, Rožman had apparently carried out this money laundering operation for the Ustashi, for he visited the U.S. Consulate in Zürich and was given a 'non-quota immigration visa as a minister of religion'.

[54] An official request for the reevaluation was made by Slovenian Public Prosecutor Anton Drobnič prior to the visit to Slovenia by Pope John Paul II in 1999.