Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina

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The Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the ecclesiastical organization of Roman Catholic believers in Bosnia and Herzegovina . At the end of 2015 it counted 405,752 believers, of whom around 5,000 belong to the Greek-Catholic Eparchy Križevci , united with Rome . Thus, with a total population of 3.5 million, approximately 11.59 percent of the population are Catholics. Before the war events of the 1990s, the number of Roman Catholic Christians was around 800,000.

The majority of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian Catholics can be assigned to the Croatian ethnic group in Bosnia and Herzegovina .

Sacred Heart Cathedral in the capital Sarajevo

organization

Map of Dioceses in Bosnia and Herzegovina EN.png

The ecclesiastical province of Vrhbosna covers the entire national territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the area of ​​the Diocese of Skopje in Macedonia . The metropolitan of the ecclesiastical province is the respective archbishop of Vrhbosna with seat in Sarajevo (currently Cardinal Vinko Puljić ). The archdiocese was founded in 1067. Suffragan dioceses are Banja Luka (1881) and the bishopric Mostar-Duvno Trebinje-Mrkan, which was united from two dioceses in 1890 .

The country's 277 parishes are cared for by 235 world and 347 religious priests . There are also 522 nuns .

Dioceses

history

Development in Bosnia

Around the 7th / 8th Century the area now Bosnia and Herzegovina from Dalmatia and Hungary from Christianized . A separate Bosnian diocese was founded in the 11th century. It was subordinate to the Archbishop in Split . The liturgy of mass was held in Glagolitic , that is, in the vernacular. It was only the Dominicans who tried to enforce the Latinization of the celebration of mass. The followers of the Bosnian Church, which was formed under the influence of Bogomil doctrines, opposed their attempts . Franciscans first came to Bosnia in 1291 . Before that, the Dominicans and the Glagolitic secular priests took over pastoral care. In 1330 the Franciscans ousted the Dominicans in this area of ​​responsibility and took over the organization of pastoral care throughout the country. Pope John XXII. simultaneously instructed them to act as the only inquisitors against the Bosnian Church. The number of Franciscans increased over time. At the same time, the number of Glagolitic secular priests decreased - in this respect also the mass celebrations in the Glagolitic vernacular - until they disappeared completely in the middle of the 19th century (examples of the gradual disappearance of the Glagolitic mass celebrations have been well documented in the parishes of Vir and Vinica ). When Austria-Hungary took over Bosnia in 1878 , there was not a single secular priest left.

Development in Herzegovina

The situation of the Catholic Church in Herzegovina was very different from that in Bosnia . There were already two dioceses there: the Trebinje-Mrkan diocese in the east, which was first mentioned in a papal deed from 1022, and the Mostar-Duvno diocese in the west, which was renewed in 1300. In the area of Trebinje (supported by Jesuits and Franciscan missionaries) the only secular priests were temporarily able to survive all Turkish persecutions, so that they were the only secular priests in Herzegovina until the Turkish withdrawal in 1878. Until 1818 the bishops of Trebinje were appointed by the Apostolic See. Thereafter, the administration was initially entrusted to an elected delegate of the Dubrovnik Cathedral Chapter, from 1839 to the Bishop of Dubrovnik . The Bishop of Mostar has been Apostolic Administrator of the Trebinje-Mrkan Diocese since 1890 . The Diocese of Duvno had its own bishop until the second half of the 17th century. The last bishop was Michael Jan from Prague (1658–1663). He could not settle in the devastated diocese , in which at that time hardly any devout Catholics lived. To remedy this situation, the Holy See established the Apostolic Vicariate of Bosnia in 1735 . The area of ​​the diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan was excluded. After long and violent disputes, Father Rafo Barišić was expelled from the country with the support of the Turkish authorities. He went to Herzegovina and founded the Apostolic Vicariate of Herzegovina in the west in 1846.

Ottoman rule (1463-1878)

Catholic chapel in Bosnia at the time of the Ottomans

In this period of history the Christian people basically had no rights. It was almost entirely forced into common servitude . There were times when the Ottomans took away the children of Christian parents ( boy reading ) and led them away. The position of the Catholic Christians (as embodied part of the Church of Rome) was more difficult than that of the Serbian Orthodox Christians. The hierarchy of the Serbian Orthodox Christians was directly subordinate to the Sultan and thus made some things easier in daily and religious life. Not infrequently, the Catholics , whose sympathies were usually on the side of the Western powers - resisting Turkish rule - were persecuted all the more intensely after each failed uprising. Thousands left the sphere of influence of the Ottoman Empire for the free Croatian territories. Predominantly to the north in the then Austro-Hungarian or to the southwest in the Venetian parts of Croatia. Of those who remained in the Ottoman sphere of influence, some converted to Islam and others joined the Serbian Orthodox Church. Thus once the numerically strongest population group was only a minority at the time of the takeover by Austria-Hungary . In 1878 the 209,391 Catholics of Bosnia and Herzegovina took third place with 18.08% after the Muslims and Serbs . There were still 119 parishes and 54 religious schools of their own. There was a shortage of priests and nuns. They came back to Sarajevo for the first time in 1871. The only printing house was in Mostar in 1872. Thus the illiteracy rate among Catholics was high.

Restoration under the rule of Austria-Hungary (1878-1918)

The restoration of church administration in Bosnia and Herzegovina was only possible after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. During the Austro-Hungarian condominium , the Catholic Church flourished in more ways than one. The number of believers increased. A number of Uniate Greek Catholic Christians from other parts of the empire also settled in Land. Separate parishes were then founded for them.

With the papal bull Ex hac augusta of July 5, 1881 Pope Leo XIII. the ecclesiastical province of Vrhbosna , raised the diocese of Vrhbosna , established in the 7th century, to an archbishopric , with its seat in Sarajevo , renamed the diocese Duvno , founded in the 6th century, to the diocese of Mostar-Duvno with its seat in Mostar and established the diocese of Banja Luka with its seat in Banja Luka . The diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan was left out. After the death of Bishop Nikola Feric in 1819, the Holy See no longer appointed a bishop; a member of the cathedral chapter of Dubrovnik was to administer the diocese as an " apostolic delegate ". With an apostolic letter of September 12, 1839, Pope Gregory XVI. appoint the Bishops of Dubrovnik as Apostolic Administrators for the Diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan. In 1890 the Bishop of Mostar became the Apostolic Administrator of the Trebinje-Mrkan diocese. This church organization has survived to this day.

Seminary seminars were founded, for example in Travnik in 1890 . This seminary was located in Sarajevo in 1893. Franciscans founded a seminary in Mostar in 1895 and one in Sarajevo in 1909; this was made possible by merging the monastery schools of Livno and Kraljeva Sutjeska . Classic grammar schools also emerged. In 1882 an archiepiscopal grammar school was founded in Travnik and a Franciscan grammar school in Kreševo , which has been in Visoko since 1900 . A Franciscan high school was also founded in Široki Brijeg in 1889. All of this was largely financed by the state. Sister orders also came into the country and opened schools. Archbishop Josef Stadler founded the order of the Servants of the Child Jesus in 1890 . The number of women religious increased steadily and the founding of religious provinces in Sarajevo both for the school sisters of the Franciscan order and the servants of the child Jesus. In this way, especially through the work of religious women, the Catholic Church devoted itself to the care of children, especially those from poor families. It enabled them to go to school. The Catholic newspaper system also began.

First Yugoslavia (1918–1941)

Even after 1918 in the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , the growth of the Catholic Church continued in some respects. The church met the frequent attempts of the new state to interfere in internal church affairs with resistance. It was not unusual for a dispute to arise in this regard. Priests were prosecuted, especially for national Croat activities. Some church newspapers were banned for the same reason. At the expense of the Roman Catholic Church, the state supported the expansion of the Old Catholic Church. Was marked this time by the polemics of certain extent state religion had become orthodoxy against the Catholic Church as an "enemy" confession . The conflict culminated in the resistance of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the signing of the Concordat in the mid-1930s.

Second World War (1941–1945)

During the Second World War and shortly after the end of the war, numerous believers and priests were killed and numerous churches destroyed. On the territory of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia , 380 church officials were murdered, 34 of them by nationalist Serb Chetniks and 346 by communist Tito partisans . Among the murdered were 2 bishops , 350 priests , 24 theologians and 4 lay brothers .

Second Yugoslavia (1945–1991)

The situation in the post-war period was catastrophic, especially in 1945. Many priests were killed or sentenced to forced labor. For a time in the late 1940s there was no bishop in all of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The new state tried to control priests who were still in the country through the professional organization "Dobri Pastir" (Good Shepherd). The archbishop's seminary in Sarajevo and the Franciscan monastery in Mostar as well as the church high schools in Travnik and Široki Brijeg were closed. Religious sisters were expelled from the country. Almost all of the property of the Roman Catholic Church was confiscated and all ecclesiastical institutions were prohibited from doing anything. There was no longer a Catholic press.

In 1960 the persecution of the Catholic Church by the State of Yugoslavia eased somewhat. Gradually a Catholic press reappeared and, after tough negotiations, the bishops were able to open the seminary in 1969, but only after they had bought back their own building from the state. Religious sisters were allowed to enter the country again. Generally speaking, the Roman Catholic Church was able to perform its tasks better under the given circumstances.

The disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 was marked by the outbreak of new wars and the emergence of new states from the former republics. With the collapse of the old federal state, the episcopal conference of the same name ceased to exist. The Apostolic See appointed a new Bishops 'Conference for each newly created state, including the Bishops' Conference for Bosnia-Herzegovina .

Bosnian War (1992–1995) and the present

Pope John Paul II on his visit in 1997
Pope Francis holds Holy Mass in a stadium in Sarajevo during his visit (2015)

After the Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995, the proportion of the population of Roman Catholic Christians is now just under 10% of the total population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. From the point of view of the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the decline in the Roman Catholic population is to be assessed not only through the recent war events, but also through the political status of the Roman Catholic, predominantly Croatian population of the country, which is one of the three constitutive ethnic groups . As early as 1995, the bishops of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented their views on the development of the overall political situation in the country in connection with the implementation of the Dayton Treaty in an open letter on December 10, 1995 to the world public John Paul II as the first Pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, pastoral trips abroad to Bosnia and Herzegovina. 1997 met among other things with the representatives of other religious communities and political representatives such as the President Alija Izetbegović . On October 25, 2007, a State Church Treaty between the Holy See and Bosnia and Herzegovina was signed in the Vatican . This was preceded by a mutual agreement of April 19, 2006. Željko Komšić , member of the State Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina said: “This is a very important moment for my country. It is a historically very important gesture. The agreement is also a symbol for the entire Balkans. Because today we have shown that Bosnia and Herzegovina can be a full member of the European Community of Peoples. Perhaps many of us do not yet understand what this agreement actually means. ” Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone commented on the State Church Treaty and emphasized that the Roman Catholic Church made an important contribution to securing peace and stability in the ethnically-denominational country fortune. The closed Concordat guarantees the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina development opportunities in the areas of culture , education , pastoral care , Caritas and the media . In addition, the bilateral State Church Treaty enables the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina to open schools and charitable institutions. In 2015 Pope Francis also went on a trip abroad to Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Number of believers through the centuries

The biggest problem for the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina has long been the incessant decline in the Catholic population and the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina . This can be seen from the numbers of believers given. The statistics contain the results of the official state population censuses, in which up until 1948 the denominational and then the national affiliations were recorded. The decline in the Catholic population during the Ottoman rule was dramatic. The numbers with the beginning of the Austro-Hungarian period of rule show a gradual increase. But after the Second World War, especially after 1971 (the Croatian spring ), the numbers decreased again. The Bosnian War from 1992 to 1995 (the last census in the area of ​​the former Yugoslavia took place in 1991) led statistically within only five years to an almost halving of the Catholic population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

year Number of Catholics Population share
1400-1450 approx. 750,000 approx. 87%
1879 approx. 209,391 18.08%
1895 approx. 334,142 19.88%
1910 approx. 434,061 21.31%
1921 approx. 440,431 23.48%
1931 approx. 557,836 24.01%
1948 approx. 614.123 23.90%
1953 approx. 654,227 23.00%
1961 approx. 711,665 21.70%
1971 approx. 772,491 20.60%
1981 approx. 758.140 18.40%
1991 approx. 760.852 17.40%
2007 approx. 480,000 10.00%
2013 approx. 432,177 9.60%

High officials

Vicars Apostolic of Bosnia

Vicars Apostolic of Herzegovina

  • 1846–1853 Rafael Barišić , OFM, (titular bishop of Azotus )
  • 1854–1879 Andeo Kraljević, OFM (Titular Bishop of Metellopolis)
  • 1880–1881 Paškal Buconjić, OFM (titular bishop of Magydus )

Apostolic Nuncio of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Since the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the following clergy have served as Apostolic Nuncio in Bosnia and Herzegovina as deputy of the Holy See :

Pilgrimage or pilgrimage sites

Saint Jacob's Church in Medjugorje

Blessed and saints

As in the Roman Catholic Church in Croatia , the Roman Catholic population and the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina venerate the following blessed :

Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac from Zagreb , Josip Lang , Petar Barbarić , Ivan Merz , the Franciscan Father Ante Antić , the last Bosnian queen of the Roman Catholic denomination , Katarina Kosača-Kotromanić , the sister of the order Marija Petković , the Franciscan Jacob of Zadar , Oton of Pula , Gracije by Kotor , Ozana Kotorska and August Kazotić , Ozana (Hozana) Kotorska .

The saints of the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina include: the Franciscan Father Leopold Mandić , the Franciscan and martyr Nikola Tavelić as well as the martyr Marko von Križevci .

Order of the Franciscan Province

The religious provinces of the Franciscans in Bosnia have been divided over the centuries several times. New provinces emerged, but always outside the Ottoman territories of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The division, through which the Franciscan province of Bosna Argentina (named after the area around Srebrenica where silver was mined) was reduced to the dimensions of the Turkish province of Bosnia and Herzegovina (which roughly corresponds to its present-day borders), took place in 1757. However, after 1757 there were still further divisions within the order province. In connection with the events of the foundation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Herzegovina, the Herzegovinian Franciscan Province was founded in 1852 within the boundaries of this new Vicariate. It was then officially raised to a province in 1892 after its 50th anniversary. These provinces still exist today, the first based in Sarajevo, the second based in Mostar .

Greek Catholic Church

In the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Greek Catholic Church is based exclusively in the Bosnia region. It has about 5000 believers. The majority of the believers in the Greek Catholic diocese of Križevci ( Croatia ) are almost exclusively of Ukrainian origin. The parishes of the Vicariate of Bosnia-Herzegovina are located in Kozarac , Banja Luka , Cerovljani , Stara Dubrava , Kamenica, Devetina , Lišnja , Prnjavor , Hrvaćani , Lepenica and Derventa .

gallery

See also

literature

  • Thomas Bremer: The religious communities in the former Yugoslavia: After the founding of Yugoslavia in 1918: The Catholic Church . In: Dunja Melčić (Ed.): The Yugoslavia War: Handbook on Prehistory, Course and Consequences . 2nd Edition. Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 244-246 .
  • Heiner Grunert: Religions in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Side by side, with each other, against each other. In: Flessenkemper, Tobias / Moll, Nicolas (ed.): The political system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Challenges between the Dayton Peace Accords and EU rapprochement . Wiesbaden 2018, pp. 121–150.
  • Klaus Buchenau: Orthodoxy and Catholicism in Yugoslavia 1945–1991: A Serbian-Croatian comparison (=  Balkanological publications of the Eastern European Institute at the Free University of Berlin . Volume 40 ). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-447-04847-6 .
  • The Crucified Church in Bosnia - Herzegovina, The Destruction of Catholic Sacred Buildings in Bosnia - Herzegovina. Edited by the Bishops' Conference of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Croatian Information Center, 1997, ISBN 953-6058-22-7 .
  • "Love.Power.inventive. - Revelations", author Winfried Gburek in conversation with Bishop Dr. Franjo Komarica, 2015, ISBN 978-3-7375-4050-6

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20160309024800/http://de.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/03/07/bosnien_kirche_%C3%BCber_wachsenden_extremismus_besetzt/1213713
  2. ↑ Glas Koncila: Grkokatolici na Žumberku ( Memento from February 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) , in Croatian, accessed on October 8, 2006.
  3. ^ Catholic Hierarchy: Diocese of Mostar-Duvno (-Trebinje e Mrkan) , in English, accessed December 14, 2006.
  4. ^ Martyrdom Croatiae . Staderini, Rome 1946, p. 5-19 .
  5. ↑ Ivo Omrčanin: Croatian priest murdered by Tschetniken and communists . Munich 1959.
  6. ↑ cf. NÖK - News Service Eastern Churches, Edition 47/05, November 24, 2005 Background information ( Memento from October 7, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ [1]
  8. ↑ bkbih: Bishops' Conference for Bosnia and Herzegovina , in Croatian, accessed on April 4, 2014.