Roman Catholic Church in Croatia

The Roman Catholic Church in Croatia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church under the spiritual guidance of the Pope and the Curia in Rome .

In Croatia indicate 3,897,332 people to be Roman Catholic, which 87.83 percent of the total accounts (census 2001 ).

The Catholic Church in Croatia is divided into 16 dioceses , which are subordinate to the following four archdioceses : Archdiocese of Zagreb , Archbishopric Split-Makarska , Archdiocese of Rijeka and Archbishopric akovo-Osijek . There is also the independent Archdiocese of Zadar and the Croatian military ordinariate .

history

St. Duje (Domnius) Cathedral in Split

In the general, Roman Catholic church history of Croatia and the still predominantly Roman Catholic population of the country, the Popes from Rome played and still play an important role. They made possible the Christianization of the population and the constant pastoral support in historically bad periods. Very little is known about the exact process of missionary work among the Croats, but Archbishop Johannes von Ravenna ( Croat . Ivan Ravenjanin) occupies an important historical position. Pope John IV (640–642), who came from Dalmatia , commissioned him to serve among the Croats. As a result, the Christianization of the Croats began in the coastal city of Split in 641 . In 679, the Croats made an agreement with Pope Agatho , committing themselves to wage war only in defense of their own borders. Another important relic of the Christianization of the Croats is the baptismal font of the Croatian Prince Višeslav . It dates back to 800 and is now in the Museum of Croatian Archaeological Monuments in Split. Prince Trpimir I (845–864) was dubbed “regnum croatorum” by Pope John VIII in 879 , which suggests the European recognition of a kingdom of Croats. The Croats became independent from Byzantium and the Franks under Trpimir's rule . In the year 879 Pope John VIII reaffirmed the Croatian Prince Branimir as ruler of the "Regnum Croatorum", which at the time was equivalent to an international, state recognition of the Kingdom of Croats . Prince Domagoj (864 - 876) was described by Pope John V as the "most glorious ruler of all Croats", and at the same time by the Venetians as "the worst prince of all Slavs". The first king of Croatia, Tomislav , was recognized as king by Pope John X in 925 . In 1519 Pope Leo X called the Croats “Antemurale Christianitatis”, the “bulwark of Christianity”, because they sacrificedly revolted against the expansion of the Ottoman Empire towards the west . The first Pope to visit today's territory of Croatia was Pope Alexander III. who stayed in the Archdiocese of Zadar on a journey through to Venice . Pope Pius II wanted to visit the Diocese of Dubrovnik , but died on the way there in 1464. Only Pope John Paul II made several pastoral visits to Croatia in 1994, 1997 and 2003.

Saints

The following saints have emerged from the Catholic Church of Croatia :

Franciscan Father Leopold Mandić
Franciscan and martyr Nikola Tavelic
Martyr Marko of Križevci
Donatus of Zadar ( Sveti Donat )
Dominus of Split ( Sveti Dujam )
Eusebius and Pollio of Cibalae (now Vinkovci )
Gaudentius Bishop of Osor
Jerome ( Sveti Jeronim )
Julian from Bale
Cajus (Bishop of Rome)
Quirinus of Siscia
Marinus
Maurus of Parenzo ( Mauro Porečki )
Vincenza

Blessed ones

Among others, the following blessed are venerated in the Roman Catholic Church in Croatia : The Zagreb Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac , 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 Marija Petković , the Franciscan Jacob of Zadar , Oton of Pula , Gracije of Kotor , Ozana Kotorska and August Kazotić .

Apostolic Nuncio

The representation of the Holy See as Apostolic Nuncio in Croatia was taken over by Giulio Einaudi from 1992 to 2003 and Francisco-Javier Lozano from 2003 to the end of 2007. From 2008 to 2012 Mario Roberto Cassari and from 2012 to April 2017 Alessandro D ' Errico Apostolic Nuncio. His successor was Giuseppe Pinto from July 1, 2017 to April 16, 2019 . Archbishop Giorgio Lingua has been Nuncio in Croatia since July 22, 2019 .

Personalities

Famous personalities in the Roman Catholic Church of Croatia and among the Roman Catholic population of the country are the Bishop of the Diocese of Đakovo and Syrmia Josip Juraj Strossmayer , the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of Zagreb Alojzije Stepinac , his successor Archbishop and Curia Cardinal Franjo Šeper and Juraj Dobrila respected and adored.

organization

Map of the Catholic Bishoprics in Croatia

Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek

Diocese of Požega

Archdiocese of Rijeka

Diocese of Gospić-Senj ( The area of the diocese lies partly in Bosnia and Herzegovina . The state border is indicated by a dotted line. )

Diocese of Krk

Diocese of Poreč-Pula

Split-Makarska Archdiocese

Diocese of Dubrovnik

Diocese of Hvar

Bishopric of Šibenik

Archdiocese of Zagreb

Bjelovar-Križevci diocese

Diocese of Sisak

Varaždin diocese

Archdiocese of Zadar

Dioceses

The Catholic Church of Croatia is officially divided into the following metropolises or (arch) dioceses:

Archdioceses and Dioceses	Croatian name	(Archbishop	Web link
Metropolis Zagreb Archdiocese of Zagreb	Zagrebačka nadbiskupija	Cardinal Josip Bozanić	[1]
Bjelovar-Križevci diocese	Bjelovarsko-križevačka biskupija	Vjekoslav Huzjak	[2]
Diocese of Sisak	Sisačka biskupija	Vlado Košić	[3]
Varaždin diocese	Varaždinska biskupija	Bože Radoš	[4]
Diocese of Križevci ( Greek Catholic )	Križevačka biskupija	Sedis vacancy	[5]
Metropolis Split Archdiocese of Split-Makarska	Splitsko-makarska nadbiskupija	Marin Barišić	[6]
Diocese of Dubrovnik	Dubrovačka biskupija	Mate Uzinić	[7]
Diocese of Hvar	Hvarska biskupija	Sedis vacancy	[8th]
Bishopric of Šibenik	Šibenska biskupija	Tomislav Rogic	[9]
Diocese of Kotor (in Montenegro )	Kotorska biskupija	Sedis vacancy
Metropolitan Rijeka Archdiocese of Rijeka	Riječka nadbiskupija	Ivan Devčić	[10]
Diocese of Gospić-Senj	Gospićko-senjska biskupija	Zdenko Križić OCD	[11]
Diocese of Krk	Krčka biskupija	Ivica Petanjak OFMCap	[12]
Diocese of Poreč-Pula	Porečko-pulska biskupija	Sedis vacancy	[13]
Đakovo-Osijek Metropolis, Đakovo-Osijek Archdiocese	Đakovačko-osiječka nadbiskupija	Đuro Hranić	[14]
Diocese of Požega	Požeška biskupija	Antun Škvorčević	[15]
Diocese of Syrmia (in Serbia )	Srijemska biskupija	Đuro Gašparović
Archdiocese of Zadar ( immediate )	Zadarska nadbiskupija	Želimir Puljić	[16]
Military Ordinary ( Immediat )	Vojni ordinarijat	Jure Bogdan	[17]

The bishops are organized through the conference of bishops . In total there are five archbishops in Croatia, of which Josip Bozanić is the only one who has the cardinal title . Marin Srakić , the archbishop of the Đakovo-Osijek archbishopric , which was founded on June 18, 2008 , has been chairman of the Croatian Bishops' Conference since October 2007 .

The believers in the Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina are predominantly of Croatian ethnicity. Until the wars of Yugoslavia , the bishops of Bosnia-Herzegovina were members of the Croatian Bishops' Conference. The Roman Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina has had an independent bishops' conference since 1995 . The diocese of Kotor still belongs to the archdiocese of Split-Makarska , but is located outside the Croatian state territory, in Montenegro .