Several key Ustaše officials, like Andrija Artuković were educated at the friary. According to journalist Richard West, the Franciscans of Bosnia and Herzegovina played a leading role in the atrocities during World War II, particularly against Serbs and their center of operations was the Široki Brijeg monastery. Both the friary and the church were damaged during the war. In May and June 1945 during the Macelj massacre 25 Catholic priests were massacred by Yugoslav communists under command by Josip Broz Tito. The church was hit with 304 cannonballs. The renovation started only in 1958 and continued during the 1960s and 1970s.