Roman Catholicism in Croatia

Cathedral of St. Duje in Split in Split, the oldest cathedral in the world

Cathedral of St. James in Šibenik (UNESCO-World Heritage)

Roman Catholicism in Croatia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.

There are an estimated 3.8 million baptised Roman Catholics in Croatia, roughly 85% of the population. The national sanctuary of Croatia is in Marija Bistrica. The patron of Croatia is Saint Joseph since the Croatian Parliament declared him to be in 1687.^[1]

History

The Church in the Austrian/Austro-Hungarian Empire

The Austrian Empire signed a concordat with the Holy See in 1855 which regulated the Catholic Church within the empire.^[2]

The Church in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia

In Yugoslavia, the Croatian bishops were part of the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia.

The Serbian Orthodox Church acted as a de-facto national church of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. During this period, a Serbian Orthodox church was built on the almost entirely Catholic island of Vis and a part of the local population began converting.^[3]

The Church in the Independent State of Croatia

Main article: Catholic clergy involvement with the Ustaše

In 1941, the Independent State of Croatia was established by the Ustaša puppet regime with Ante Pavelić as its leader. The Independent State of Croatia was one of several Nazi puppet states. The Ustaša regime pursued a genocidal policy against the Serbs (who were Eastern Orthodox Christians), Jews and Roma.

The creation of the Independent State of Croatia was welcomed by most of Roman Catholic priests and the entire hierarchy of the Church.^{[citation needed]} However, one notable figure of the Croatian Catholic Church, Bishop Alojzije Stepinac, made public statements criticising developments in the ISC. On Sunday May 24, 1942 to the irritation of Ustaša officials, he used the pulpit and a diocesan letter to condemn genocide in specific terms:

All men and all races are children of God; all without distinction. Those who are Gypsies, Black, European, or Aryan all have the same rights.... for this reason, the Catholic Church had always condemned, and continues to condemn, all injustice and all violence committed in the name of theories of class, race, or nationality. It is not permissible to persecute Gypsies or Jews because they are thought to be an inferior race.^[4]

He also wrote directly to Pavelić, saying on February 24, 1943:

The very Jasenovac camp is a stain on the honor of the ISC. Poglavnik! To those who look at me as a priest and a bishop I say as Christ did on the cross: Father forgive them for they know not what they do.^[5]

In December 1941, Chetniks killed a group of five nuns near Goražde. Yugoslav Partisans killed priests Petar Perica and Marijan Blažić on the island of Daksa on October 25, 1944. The Partisans killed fra Maksimilijan Jurčić near Vrgorac in late January, 1945.^[6]

The Church in communist Yugoslavia

In 1945, the retired bishop of Dubrovnik, Josip Marija Carević, was murdered by Yugoslav authorities.^[7] Bishop Josip Srebrnić was sent to jail for two months.^[8] After the war, the number of Catholic publications in Yugoslavia decreased from one hundred to only three.^[9]

In 1946, the communist regime introduced the Law on State Registry Books which allowed the confiscation of church registries and other documents.^[10] On January 31, 1952, the communist regime banned religious education in public schools.^[11] That year the regime also expelled the Catholic Faculty of Theology from the University of Zagreb, to which it was not restored until democratic changes in 1991.^[12][13]

In 1984, the Catholic Church held a National Eucharistic Congress in Marija Bistrica.^[14] The central mass held on September 9 was attended by 400,000 people, including 1100 priests, 35 bishops and archbishops, as well as five cardinals. The mass was led by cardinal Franz König, a friend of Aloysius Stepinac from their early studies. In 1987 the Bishops' Conference of Yugoslavia issued a statement calling on the government to respect the right of parents to obtain a religious education for their children.^[15]

The Church in the Republic of Croatia

With Croatian democratization and independence, the Croatian Bishops' Conference was formed. The Croatian Bishops' Conference established Croatian Catholic Radio in 1997.^[16]

Hierarchy

Within Croatia the hierarchy consists of:

Archdioceses and dioceses	Croatian name	(Arch-)Bishop	Est.	Cathedral	Weblink
Archdiocese of Zagreb	Zagrebačka nadbiskupija Archidioecesis Zagrebiensis	Cardinal Josip Bozanić	1093	Zagreb Cathedral	[1]
Eparchy of Križevci (Greek-Catholic)	Križevačka biskupija	Nikola Kekić	1777	Križevci Cathedral Zagreb Co-cathedral	[2]
Diocese of Varaždin	Varaždinska biskupija	Josip Mrzljak	1997	Varaždin Cathedral	[3]
Diocese of Sisak	Sisačka biskupija	Vlado Košić	2009	Sisak Cathedral
Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci	Bjelovarsko-križevačka biskupija	Vjekoslav Huzjak	2009	Bjelovar Cathedral Križevci Co-cathedral
Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek	Đakovačko-osiječka nadbiskupija	Marin Srakić	4th century	Đakovo Cathedral	[4]
Diocese of Požega	Požeška biskupija Dioecesis Poseganus	Antun Škvorčević	1997	Požega Cathedral	[5]
Diocese of Srijem (in Serbia)	Srijemska biskupija	Djuro Gašparović	2008		[6]
Archdiocese of Rijeka	Riječka nadbiskupija	Ivan Devčić	1920	Rijeka Cathedral	[7]
Diocese of Gospić-Senj	Gospićko-senjska biskupija	Mile Bogović	2000	Gospić Cathedral Senj Co-cathedral	[8]
Diocese of Krk	Krčka biskupija	Valter Župan	900	Krk Cathedral	[9]
Diocese of Poreč-Pula	Porečko-pulska biskupija	Ivan Milovan	3rd century	Euphrasian Basilica Pula Cathedral	[10]
Archdiocese of Split-Makarska	Splitsko-makarska nadbiskupija	Marin Barišić	3rd century	Split Cathedral Split Co-cathedral	[11]
Diocese of Dubrovnik	Dubrovačka biskupija		990	Sede vacante	[12]
Diocese of Hvar	Hvarska biskupija	Slobodan Štambuk	12th century	Hvar Cathedral	[13]
Diocese of Kotor (in Montenegro)	Kotorska biskupija	Ilija Janjić	10th century	Kotor Cathedral	[14]
Diocese of Šibenik	Šibenska biskupija	Ante Ivas	1298	Šibenik Cathedral	[15]
Archdiocese of Zadar	Zadarska nadbiskupija	Želimir Puljić	1054	Zadar Cathedral	[16]
Military Ordinariate	Vojni ordinarijat	Juraj Jezerinac	1997		[17]

The Strossmayer-Cathedral of Đakovo in Slavonia

The bishops are organized into the Croatian Conference of Bishops, which is presided by the Archbishop of Đakovo-Osijek Mons. Marin Srakić.

There are also historical bishoprics, including:

• Roman Catholic Diocese of Senj-Modruš

Franciscans

There are three Franciscan provinces in the country:

• the Franciscan Province of Saints Cyril and Methodius based in Zagreb,
• the Franciscan Province of Saint Jerome based in Zadar and
• the Franciscan Province of the Most Holy Redeemer based in Split.

Other orders

• Croatian Dominican Province
• Croatian Province of the Society of Jesus
• Croatian Salesian Province of Saint Don Bosco
• Croatian Carmelite Province of Saint Joseph the Father

Places of Pilgrimage of the Croats

• Aljmaš
• Ludbreg
• Our Lady of Marija Bistrica
• Our Lady of Sinj
• Our Lady of Trsat

Notable people

• Franjo Šeper
• Alojzije Stepinac
• Josip Juraj Strossmayer
• Juraj Dobrila
• Franjo Kuharić (Cardinal before Josip Bozanić)
• Ivan Merz, blessed layman and Catholic activist
• Antun Mahnić, initiator of the Croatian Catholic Movement

References

1. ^ Relief of Saint Joseph placed in Parliament
2. ^ Ljiljana Dobrovšak. Ženidbeno (bračno) pravo u 19. stoljeću u Hrvatskoj
3. ^ History of the island of Vis
4. ^ Apud: Dr. H. Jansen, Pius XII: chronologie van een onophoudelijk protest, 2003, p. 151
5. ^ Alojzije Viktor Stepinac: 1896-1960
6. ^ Partizan Jure Galić: Moji suborci pobili su 30 Vrgorčana, Slobodna Dalmacija
7. ^ Religious Communities in Croatia from 1945 to 1991
8. ^ Akmadža, Miroslav. Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj i komunistički režim 1945 - 1966.. Rijeka: Otokar Keršovani, 2004. (pg. 69)
9. ^ Mitja Velikonja. Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Texas A&M University Press, 2003. (p. 200)
10. ^ Miroslav Akmadža. Oduzimanje crkvenih matičnih knjiga u Hrvatskoj u vrijeme komunizma
11. ^ Akmadža, Miroslav. Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj i komunistički režim 1945-1966.. Biblioteka Svjedočansta. Rijeka, 2004. (pg. 93)
12. ^ Goldstein, Ivo. Croatia: A History . McGill Queen's University Press, 1999. (pg. 169)
13. ^ Catholic Faculty of Theology History
14. ^ How Gospa destroyed the SFRY, Globus
15. ^ Sabrina P. Ramet. Catholicism and politics in communist societies. Duke University Press, 1990. (p. 194)
16. ^ Hrvatski katolički radio u povodu 10. obljetnice emitiranja, Glas Koncila

External links

Croatia portal

• Croatian Conference of Bishops