Sacred Heart Church (Niš)
The Sacred Heart of Jesus Church ( Serbian Пресветог срца Исусовог ) is a Roman Catholic Church in Niš , Serbia . It is dedicated to the veneration of the heart of Jesus .
history
Roman Catholic Christians are mentioned in Niš in the Middle Ages. These were mostly traders from Dubrovnik , whose trading houses had permanent representations in all major Serbian cities and markets. At least one church has been partially preserved, the so-called Latin Church from the 12th century. During the Ottoman rule , the Roman Catholic Bishop of Skopje was responsible for the small community, which continued to consist mostly of newcomers .
The history of today's municipality begins in the second half of the 19th century. After the Principality of Serbia became independent in 1878, it undertook to expand the Belgrade – Niš railway line. Numerous workers came from other countries, including engineers and skilled workers in the mining industry, who were lacking in what was then Serbia. In 1884 the first Roman Catholic chapel was built in a private house near the Pension Marger . In the same year regular services were held under the Barnabite Cesare Tondini de Quarenghi. The Barnabites held a permanent mission in Kragujevac and Cesare Tondini was responsible for all Roman Catholic Christians on the territory of the Principality of Serbia (Kingdom from 1882). In 1885 the Camaldolese priest Wilibald Czock came from Poland , who took over the parish and expanded it.
The community now comprised the whole of what was then eastern and southern Serbia and had around 3,000 members. Czock began building the old Sacred Heart Church in Niš in 1887, which also included a school. However, the school was closed three years later by the Serbian government. Czock generally advocated independence for the church from government violence and politics, which is why he came into conflict with Bishop Strossmayer . This meant that Czock had to leave Niš around 1897 and was replaced by Julije Biljan. Czock returned to the community he organized in 1901, but no longer took over its leadership. He died there in 1903. Biljan, in turn, led the community until 1918. He was followed by Hubert Karthaus until 1920.
From 1920 to 1927 the Czech Ferdinand Hrdy, who emigrated from Istria, headed the community. Under the direction of Hrdy, who was appointed apostolic administrator in 1921, the Sacred Heart Church was renovated and enlarged in 1925. He also founded the church in Bor . In 1927, Hrdy handed the community over to the Archdiocese of Belgrade and returned to what was then Czechoslovakia . From now on the parishes of Niš and Bor belonged to the Belgrade Archdiocese. The Bosnian-Croatian Franciscan Srećko Perić, who in turn founded the parishes of Kragujevac, Smederevo , Šabac , Zaječar , Kraljevo and Ravna Reka and which still exist today, was in charge of the Niš community .
present
The congregation of the Sacred Heart Church in Niš now has two branches, one in Leskovac with the Chapel of the Assumption of Mary (1967) and the second in Aleksinac with the Chapel of St. Joseph the Worker. The new Herz-Jesu-Kirche including the parish center was built in 1994-2000. Although the current congregation was founded by the Franciscans after 1927, it was for a time also led by the Salesians and diocesan priests. It is currently led by members of the Neocatechumenal Way .
Web links
Coordinates: 43 ° 18 ′ 57 ″ N , 21 ° 53 ′ 29 ″ E