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| missionaries =| churches =| hospitals = | nursing_homes = | aid = | primary_schools = | secondary_schools = | tax_status =| tertiary = | other_names = | publications = | website = Croatian Bishops’ Conference}}{{Catholic Church in Croatia sidebar}}The Catholic Church in Croatia () is part of the worldwide Catholic Church that is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope. The Latin Church in Croatia is administered by the Croatian Bishops’ Conference centered in Zagreb, and it comprises five archdioceses, 13 dioceses and one military ordinariate. Dražen KutleÅ¡a is the Archbishop of Zagreb.A 2011 census estimated that there were 3.7 million baptized Latin Catholics and about 20,000 baptized Eastern Catholics of the Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia in Croatia, comprising 86.3% of the population. {{As of|2017}}, weekly church attendance was relatively high compared to other Catholic nations in Europe, at around 27%.WEB,www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/, Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe, Pew Research Center, 10 May 2017, A 2021 Croatian census showed that 79% of the population is Catholic and 3.3% is Serbian Orthodox.US State Deptartment 2022 reportThe national sanctuary of Croatia is in Marija Bistrica, while the country’s patron is Saint Joseph: the Croatian Parliament unanimously declared him to be the national patron in 1687.WEB,www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=28406, Sv. Josip - zaÅ¡titnik hrvatske domovine,www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=28406," title="web.archive.org/web/20160213060355www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=28406,">web.archive.org/web/20160213060355www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?art=28406, 2016-02-13, dead, At its season on June 9th and 10th 1687 Croatian Parliament encouraged by the Bishop of Zagreb Martin Borković, unanimously declared St Joseph to be the patron of the Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg), Croatian Kingdom,

History

Roman Illyrians and early Christianity

The western part of the Balkan Peninsula was conquered by the Roman Empire by 168 BC after a long drawn out process known as the Illyrian Wars.WEB, 2023-06-26, Balkans {{!, Definition, Map, Countries, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}Following their conquests, the Romans organised the area into the province of Illyricum, which was eventually split up into Dalmatia and Pannonia. Through being part of the Roman Empire, various religious cults were brought into the region. This included the Levantine-originated religion of Christianity. Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire in 391. WEB, Balkans - Roman Empire, Slavs, Christianity, and Byzantine Empire {{!, Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Balkans/In-the-Roman-Empire |access-date=2023-07-05 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}In 395, the Roman Empire was divided into two parts, and the dividing line went through the Balkans. Illyricum fell under the rule of Rome and the rest fell under the rule of Byzantium. Indeed, Salona, a Greek-founded city close to modern Split, was one of the earliest places in the region connected with Christianity. It was able to gain influence first among some of the Dalmatian Jews living in the city. St. Titus, a disciple of St. Paul the Apostle and the subject of the Epistle to Titus in the New Testament, was active in Dalmatia. Indeed, in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul himself speaks of visiting “Illyricum”, but he may have meant Illyria Graeca.

Conversion of the Croats

File:PokrÅ¡tenje Hrvata Bela ÄŒikoÅ¡ Sesija.JPG|thumb|170px|left|Baptism of the Croats by Bela ÄŒikoÅ¡ SesijaBela ÄŒikoÅ¡ SesijaFile:Crkva sv. Križa u Ninu 2010.jpg|thumb|170px|right|Church of the Holy Cross in Nin, built in the 9th century, is known under the moniker of “the smallest cathedral in the world”]]The Croats arrived in the area of present-day Croatia during the early part of the 7th century AD. They came in touch with the Christian natives and started to slowly accept Christianity. Byzantine and Frankish missionaries and Benedictines who were bringing Western cultural influences had a significant role in the christening of Croats.Croats had their first contact with the Holy See in year 641 when the papal envoy Abbot Martin came to them in order to redeem Christian captives and the bones of the martyrs that Croats were keeping. There is little information about the “Baptism of the Croats”, but it is known that it was peacefully and freely accepted, and that it took place between the 7th and the 9th century.Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus wrote in his book De Administrando Imperio that the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, during whose reign Croats came to the land between Drava river and the Adriatic Sea (present-day Croatia), “brought priests from Rome who he made into archbishop, bishop, priests and deacons, which then baptized Croats.“Historical sources mention the christening of Croatian rulers Porga, Vojnomir, ViÅ¡eslava, Borna, Ljudevit Posavski and others.By the 9th century, Croats have already been fully included in a large European Christian community. Croatian rulers Mislav (around 839), Trpimir I (852) and many others were building churches and monasteries. In 879, Croatian duke Branimir wrote a letter to Pope John VIII in which he promised him loyalty and obedience. Pope John VIII replied with a letter on 7 June 879, in which he wrote that he celebrated a Mass at the tomb of St Peter on which he invoked God’s blessing on Branimir and his people.In 925, Croatian King Tomislav was corresponding with Pope John X on the occasion of the first Church Council of Split. The pope’s letter to the King Tomislav is the first international document in which a Croatian ruler was called rex (King); that is why Tomislav is considered to be the first Croatian king.King Demetrius Zvonimir was crowned on 8 October 1076BOOK, Mandić, Dominik, Dominik Mandić, Rasprave i prilozi iz stare hrvatske povijesti, Institute of Croatian history, Rome, 1963, 315, 438, at Solin in the Basilica of Saint Peter and Moses (known today as the Hollow Church) by Gebizon, a representative of Pope Gregory VII.Demetrius, Duke of Croatia and Dalmatia {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060212054300asv.vatican.va/en/visit/p_nob/p_nob_2s_05.htm |date=2006-02-12 }} He was granted the royal title by Gregory after pledging “Peter’s Pence” to the Pope.BOOK, Tomislav, Raukar, Hrvatsko srednjovjekovlje, Å kolska knjiga, Zagreb, 1997, 953-0-30703-9, 49, Zvonimir took an oath of allegiance to Pope, by which he promised his support in the implementations of the Church reforms in Croatia. After the Papal legate crowned him, Zvonimir in 1076 gave the Benedictine monastery of Saint Gregory in Vrana to the Pope as a sign of loyalty and as an accommodation for papal legates coming to Croatia.BOOK, Curta, Florin,books.google.com/books?id=YIAYMNOOe0YC, Southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 500-1250, Curta, Professor of Medieval History Florin, Stephenson, Paul, 2006-08-31, Cambridge University Press, 978-0-521-81539-0, en,

Middle Ages

{{See also|Antemurale Christianitatis}}File:Pluteus with the figure of a Croatian king.jpg|thumb|170px|left|Pluteus located in the baptistery of Church of St John in Split ]]File:Ferdo Quiqerez,Predziđe kršćanstva.jpg|thumb|170px|Croatia was named Antemurale ChristianitatisAntemurale ChristianitatisWhen Croatia lost its own dynasty and entered into a personal union with Hungary in 1102, the Benedictines were slowly dying out, while the mendicant orders, especially Franciscans and Dominicans were becoming more important. Religious and cultural formation of Croats was also strongly influenced by Jesuits. Church writers from northern Croatia and Dubrovnik, which was a free center of the Croatian culture, have done a lot for standardization and expansion of the Croatian literary language.Since the 9th century there is in Croatia a unique phenomenon in the entire world of Catholicism, liturgy that was held in Church Slavonic language with special Glagolitic script. Despite the various disputes, Pope Innocent IV approved use of Church Slavonic language and the Glagolitic script to Filip, bishop of Senj,JOURNAL, Kraft Soić, Vanda, OTPIS INOCENTA IV. SENJSKOM BISKUPU (1248.) POD PATRONATOM SV. JERONIMA I. Senjski privilegij iz godine 1248, Croatica Christiana Periodica, 2016, 40, 77, 1–23,hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=242853, 24 May 2021, thus making Croats the only Latin Catholics in the world allowed to use a language other than Latin in their liturgy prior to the Second Vatican Council in 1962.WEB, Crkva u Hrvatskoj,www.benedictines-cib.org/meetings/2009Croatia/Jozo_Crkva_u_Hrvatskojna_hrv.pdf www.benedictines-cib.org/meetings/2009Croatia/Jozo_Crkva_u_Hrvatskojna_hrv.pdf >archive-date=4 November 2020, During the Croatian–Ottoman Wars that lasted from 15th to 19th century Croats strongly fought against the Turks which resulted in the fact that the westernmost border of the Ottoman Empire and Europe became entrenched on the soil of the Croatian Kingdom. In 1519, Croatia was called the Antemurale Christianitatis by Pope Leo X.

Austrian Empire/Austria-Hungary

File:Stepinac.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Archbishop Aloysius Stepinac “in 1941 had welcomed Croat independence (in form of NDHNDHThe Austrian Empire signed a concordat with the Holy See in 1855 which regulated the Catholic Church within the empire.Ljiljana DobrovÅ¡ak. Ženidbeno (bračno) pravo u 19. stoljeću u Hrvatskoj

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

In Yugoslavia, the Croatian bishops were part of the Bishops’ Conference of Yugoslavia.The situation of the Catholic Church in the new kingdom was affected by the pro-Orthodox policy of the Yugoslav government and the strong influence of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the country’s politics. After the coup of 1929, several Catholic organizations and institutes were closed or dissolved, specially in Croatia, as the Club of Seniorates, the Eagle Movement (Orlovstvo) and the Catholic Action.JOURNAL, Kristo, Jure, The Catholic Church in Yugoslavia in the Period between the Two World Wars, CROSBI Hrvatska Znanstvena Bibliografija, 2011, 177–196,www.bib.irb.hr/573625, Some members of Eastern Catholic churches, such as Croatian Greek Catholics, were persecuted and forced to convert to Orthodox Christianity.JOURNAL,www.researchgate.net/publication/286100641, Persecutions of the bosnian Greek catholics in the kingdom of serbs, croats and slovenians / Yugoslavia according to the contemporary catholic press, Patafta, D., 2015, ResearchGate, {{See also|Holy See–Yugoslavia relations}}

The Church in the Independent State of Croatia

In 1941, a Nazi puppet state, the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), was established by the fascist dictator Ante Pavelić and his UstaÅ¡e movement. The UstaÅ¡e regime pursued a genocidal policy against the Serbs (who were Eastern Orthodox Christians), Jews and Romani.BOOK, Tomasevich, Jozo, War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: Occupation and Collaboration, 2001, Stanford University Press, 978-0-80477-924-1, 555,books.google.com/books?id=fqUSGevFe5MC&pg=PA555, Historian Michael Phayer wrote that the creation of the NDH was initially welcomed by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church and by many Catholic priests. Ante Pavelić was anti-Serb and pro-Catholic, viewing Catholicism as an integral part of Croat culture.{{sfnp|Phayer|2000|p=32}} A large number of Catholic priests and intellectuals assumed important roles within the UstaÅ¡e.British writer Peter Hebblethwaite wrote that Pavelić was anxious to get diplomatic relations and a Vatican blessing for the new ‘Catholic state’ but that “neither was forthcoming”.BOOK, Hebblethwaite, Peter, Paul VI: The First Modern Pope, 1993, Paulist Press, 978-1-58768-759-4, 153–157, 210–211, The Archbishop of Zagreb, Aloysius Stepinac, wanted Croatia’s independence from the Serb dominated Yugoslav state which he considered to be “the jail of the Croatian nation”, so he arranged the audience with Pius XII for Pavelić.{{sfnp|Phayer|2000|p=32}}Vatican under Secretary of State Giovanni Montini (later Pope Paul VI)’s minutes before the meeting noted that no recognition of the new state could come before a peace treaty and that “The Holy See must be impartial; it must think of all; there are Catholics on all sides to whom the [Holy See] must be respectful.” The Vatican refused formal recognition of NDH but Pius XII sent a Benedictine abbot Giuseppe Ramiro Marcone as his apostolic visitor. Pius was criticized for his reception of Pavelić but he still hoped that Pavelić would defeat communist Partisans and reconvert many of the 200,000 who had left the Catholic Church for the Serbian Orthodox Church since World War I.{{sfnp|Phayer|2000|p=32}}Many Croatian nationalist clergy supported the Pavelić’s regime push to drive out Serbs, Gypsies and Jews, or force their conversion to Catholicism.BOOK, Evans, Richard J., The Third Reich at War, Penguin Press, New York, 2009, 158–159, 978-1-5942-0206-3, Phayer wrote that it is well known that many Catholic clerics participated directly or indirectly in UstaÅ¡e campaigns of violence.{{sfnp|Phayer|2000|p=34-35}} Despite that, Pavelić told Nazi Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop that while the lower clergy supported the UstaÅ¡e, the bishops, and particularly Archbishop Stepinac, were opposed to the movement because of “Vatican international policy”.Phayer wrote that Stepinac came to be known as “judenfreundlich” (“Jew friendly“) to the Nazi-linked UstaÅ¡e regime, and suspended a number of priest collaborators in his diocese.{{sfnp|Phayer|2000|p=86}}Archbishop Stepinac made many public statements criticizing developments in the NDH. On Sunday, 24 May 1942, to the irritation of UstaÅ¡a officials, he used the pulpit and a diocesan letter to condemn genocide in specific terms, although not mentioning Serbs:{{quotation|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.Apud: Dr H. Jansen, Pius XII: chronologie van een onophoudelijk protest, 2003, pg. 151.}}He also wrote a letter directly to Pavelić on 24 February 1943, stating: “The very Jasenovac camp is a stain on the honor of the NDH. 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.“Alojzije Viktor Stepinac: 1896-1960 {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030530160843www.moljac.hr/biografije/stepinac.htm|date=30 May 2003}}Thirty-one priests were arrested following Stepinac’s July and October 1943 explicit condemnations of race murders being read from pulpits across Croatia.{{sfnp|Phayer|2000|pp=46–47}} Martin Gilbert wrote that Stepinac, “who in 1941 had welcomed Croat independence, subsequently condemned Croat atrocities against both Serbs and Jews, and himself saved a group of Jews”.Gilbert, Martin. The Righteous - The Unsung Heroes of the Holocaust, Doubleday (2002), pp. 203, 466; {{ISBN|0385 60100X}}.According to historian Jozo Tomasevich however, neither Stepinac nor the Croatian Catholic hierarchy or the Vatican ever made a public protest regarding the persecution of Serbs and the Serbian Orthodox Church by the UstaÅ¡e and added that “it seems the Catholic Church fully supported the Ustasha regime and its policies”. The Catholic Press also praised Pavelić and the UstaÅ¡e.The Yugoslav Partisans executed two priests, Petar Perica and Marijan Blažić, as collaborationists on the island of Daksa on 25 October 1944. The Partisans killed Fra Maksimilijan Jurčić near Vrgorac in late January 1945.WEB,www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Hrvatska/tabid/66/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/130986/Default.aspx, Partizan Jure Galić: Moji suborci pobili su 30 Vrgorčana, 28 April 2011, 18 April 2017,

The Church in communist Yugoslavia

The National Anti-Fascist Council of the People’s Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH) originally foresaw a greater degree of religious freedom in the country. In 1944 ZAVNOH still left open the possibility of religious education in schools.Tanner (1997), p. 164This idea was scuttled after Yugoslav leader Josip Broz removed secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Croatia Andrija Hebrang and replaced him with hardliner Vladimir Bakarić.Tanner (1997), pg. 165.In 1945, the retired bishop of Dubrovnik, Josip Marija Carević, was murdered by Yugoslav authorities.WEB,hrcak.srce.hr/file/24040, Religious Communities in Croatia from 1945 to 1991, 18 April 2017, Bishop Josip Srebrnić was sent to jail for two months.Akmadža, Miroslav. Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj i komunistički režim 1945-1966,Rijeka: Otokar KerÅ¡ovani, 2004 (pg. 69) After the war, the number of Catholic publications in Yugoslavia decreased from one hundred to only three.Mitja Velikonja. Religious Separation and Political Intolerance in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Texas A&M University Press, 2003 (pg. 200) In 1946, the Communist regime introduced the Law on State Registry Books which allowed the confiscation of church registries and other documents.Miroslav Akmadža. Oduzimanje crkvenih matičnih knjiga u Hrvatskoj u vrijeme komunizma On 31 January 1952, the communist regime officially banned all religious education in public schools.Akmadža, Miroslav. Katolička crkva u Hrvatskoj i komunistički režim 1945-1966, Biblioteka Svjedočansta. Rijeka, 2004 (p. 93)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.Goldstein, Ivo. Croatia: A History . McGill Queen’s University Press, 1999. (pg. 169)WEB,www.kbf.hr/stranica.aspx?pageID=5, Stranica nije pronaÄ‘ena. – Katolički bogoslovni fakultet, 18 April 2017, dead,www.kbf.hr/stranica.aspx?pageID=5," title="web.archive.org/web/20080722061418www.kbf.hr/stranica.aspx?pageID=5,">web.archive.org/web/20080722061418www.kbf.hr/stranica.aspx?pageID=5, 22 July 2008, In 1984, the Catholic Church held a National Eucharistic Congress in Marija Bistrica.WEB,www.globus.com.hr/Clanak.aspx?BrojID=286&ClanakID=7913, How Gospa destroyed the SFRY, Globus (weekly), Globus, 18 April 2017,www.globus.com.hr/Clanak.aspx?BrojID=286&ClanakID=7913," title="web.archive.org/web/20080921230520www.globus.com.hr/Clanak.aspx?BrojID=286&ClanakID=7913,">web.archive.org/web/20080921230520www.globus.com.hr/Clanak.aspx?BrojID=286&ClanakID=7913, 21 September 2008, dead, 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.Sabrina P. Ramet. Catholicism and politics in communist societies. Duke University Press, 1990 (p. 194)

The Church in the Republic of Croatia

File:Pope Benedict XVI HNK 3 04062011.JPG|thumb|230px|Popemobile in front of the Croatian National Theater during Pope Benedict XVIPope Benedict XVIFile:Zagrebačka katedrala - misa na 100-tu obljetnicu povratka kostiju P. Zrinskog i F. K. Frankopana.jpg|thumb|230px|Holy Mass in the Zagreb CathedralZagreb CathedralAfter Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia, the Catholic Church regained its full freedom and influence. First nuncio in Croatia was mons. Giulio Einauldi, appointed on 13 January 1992.JOURNAL, Prvi Apostolski nuncij u Hrvatskoj, First apostolic nuncio in Croatia, Sveta Cecilija,hrcak.srce.hr/file/367936, 62, 2, 1992, 25, 1849-3106, Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb, Catholic faculty of Theology, Zagreb, Croatian Bishops’ Conference was founded on 15 May 1993, by exclusion from the Bishops’ Conference of Yugoslavia.During the Croatian War of Independence, Catholicism and Orthodoxy were often cited as a basic division between Croats and Serbs, which led to a massive destruction of churches (some 1,426 were destroyed or damaged).The Croatian Bishops’ Conference established Croatian Catholic Radio in 1997.WEB,www.glas-koncila.hr/rubrike_reportaza.html?news_ID=11538&PHPSESSID=c7f, Hrvatski katolički radio u povodu 10. obljetnice emitiranja, Glas Koncila, 18 April 2017,www.glas-koncila.hr/rubrike_reportaza.html?news_ID=11538," title="web.archive.org/web/20071028071034www.glas-koncila.hr/rubrike_reportaza.html?news_ID=11538,">web.archive.org/web/20071028071034www.glas-koncila.hr/rubrike_reportaza.html?news_ID=11538, 28 October 2007, dead, In the Republic of Croatia, the Catholic Church has defined its legal position as autonomous in some areas, thus making it able to provide religious education in state primary and secondary schools to those students who choose it, establish Catholic schools and conduct pastoral care among the Catholics in the armed forces and police.Through the ratification of treaties between the Holy See and Croatia on 9 April 1997, treaties that regulate legal issues, cooperation in education and culture, conducting pastoral care among the Catholics in the armed forces and police and financing Church from the state budget came into force. As regards to financing, the Church has received the following amounts of money over the 2000s: 2001; 461.3 bln kunas, 2004–2007; 532 bln kunas, 2008–2011;475.5 bln kunas, 2012–2013; 523.5 bln kunas, plus around 200 million kunas per each year for teachers of religious studies in schools, around 60 million kunas for maintenance churches which are considered to be a cultural heritage etc.WEB,www.jutarnji.hr/ekskluzivno--koliko-se-iz-proracuna-izdvaja-za-vjerske-zajednice--sest-milijardi-kuna-hrvatska-je-platila-kaptolu-u-10-godina-/1236185/, Prvi Put Dostupni Podaci o Uplatama Od 2003. godine Kaptol je od države dobio 6 milijardi kuna, 18 April 2017, The Catholic Church in Croatia in modern times is very active in social and political life. It has implemented a number of actions in conservative spirit in order to promote its values such as: non-working Sunday, punishment of the crimes of the communist era, introducing religious education in schools, protection of marriage as the union of a man and a woman (2013 referendum), opposition to abortion (campaigning for “protecting human life from conception to natural death“), opposition to euthanasia, opposition to natural methods of family planning and the treatment of infertility, and opposition to artificial birth control methods.

Demographics

File:St. Peter’s Cathedral, Dakovo.jpg|thumb|170px|right|Đakovo CathedralĐakovo CathedralFile:Kathedrale St. Anastasia.jpg|thumb|170px|right|Zadar CathedralZadar CathedralThe published data from the 2011 Croatian census included a crosstab of ethnicity and religion which showed that a total of 3,697,143 Catholic believers (86.28% of the total population) was divided between the following ethnic groups:WEB, Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011,www.dzs.hr/Eng/censuses/census2011/results/htm/E01_01_12/E01_01_12.html, 4. Population by ethnicity and religion, Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2012-12-17,

• 3,599,038 Catholic Croats
• 22,331 Catholic believers of regional affiliation
• 15,083 Catholic Italians
• 9,396 Catholic Hungarians
• 8,521 Catholic Czechs
• 8,299 Catholic Roma
• 8,081 Catholic Slovenes
• 7,109 Catholic Albanians
• 3,159 Catholic Slovaks
• 2,776 Catholic believers of undeclared nationality
• 2,391 Catholic Serbs
• 1,913 Catholic believers of other nationalities
• 1,847 Catholic Germans
• 1,692 Catholic Ruthenians
• 1,384 Catholic believers of unknown nationality
• 1,339 Catholic Ukrainians
• other individual ethnicities (under 1,000 people each)

Organisation

Hierarchy

(File:Roman Catholic dioceses in Croatia.png|thumbnail|350px|Map of the Catholic dioceses in Croatia{{legend|#B6CF59|Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek}}Diocese of Srijem (in Serbia(not on map)){{legend|#CDDE87|Diocese of Požega}}{{legend|#3A92A8|Archdiocese of Rijeka}}{{legend|#68C0D5|Diocese of Gospić-Senj (The territory of the Diocese is partly in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The state border is indicated by a dotted line.)}}{{legend|#87CDDE|Diocese of Krk}}{{legend|#46B1CC|Diocese of Poreč-Pula}}{{legend|#FFE26C|Archdiocese of Split-Makarska}}{{legend|#FFD531|Diocese of Dubrovnik}}{{legend|#F7C600|Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis}}Diocese of Kotor (in Montenegro(not on map)){{legend|#FFD531|Diocese of Å ibenik|outline=gold}}{{legend|#FFA366|Archdiocese of Zagreb}}{{legend|#FFB07C|Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci}}{{legend|#FFCDAC|Diocese of Sisak}}{{legend|#FFC298|Diocese of Varaždin}}{{legend|#8584CC|Archdiocese of Zadar}})Within Croatia the hierarchy consists of:{| border=“1” cellpadding=“3” cellspacing=“0” style="empty-cells:show; border-collapse:collapse”style="background:#B0C4DE;“! Archdioceses and dioceses! Croatian name! (Arch-)Bishop! Est.! Cathedral! WeblinkArchdiocese of Zagreb Dražen KutleÅ¡a Zagreb Cathedralzagreb.hbk.hr/index.html" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20110721100154zagreb.hbk.hr/index.html">weblinkEparchy of Križevci (Eastern Catholic)>Eparchy of Križevci (Greek-Catholic)| Križevačka eparhija| Milan Stipić| 1777Križevci CathedralGreek Catholic Co-cathedral of Saints Cyril and Methodius, Zagreb>Zagreb Co-cathedral| krizevci.hbk.hr/index.html" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20050406014135krizevci.hbk.hr/index.html">weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Varaždin>Diocese of Varaždin| Varaždinska biskupija| Bože RadoÅ¡| 1997| Varaždin Cathedral| varazdin.hbk.hr/" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20161017025139varazdin.hbk.hr/">weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Sisak>Diocese of Sisak| Sisačka biskupija| Vlado KoÅ¡ić| 2009| Sisak Cathedral| weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci>Diocese of Bjelovar-Križevci| Bjelovarsko-križevačka biskupija| Vjekoslav Huzjak| 2009| Bjelovar CathedralKriževci Co-cathedral| weblinkArchdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek Đuro Hranić Đakovo CathedralweblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Požega>Diocese of Požega| PožeÅ¡ka biskupijaDioecesis Poseganus| Antun Å kvorčević| 1997| Požega Cathedral| pozega.hbk.hr/index.html" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20110928120530pozega.hbk.hr/index.html">weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Srijem>Diocese of Srijem (in Serbia)| Srijemska biskupija| Đuro GaÅ¡parović| 2008| Cathedral Basilica of St. Demetrius| weblinkArchdiocese of Rijeka Ivan Devčić Rijeka CathedralweblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Gospić-Senj>Diocese of Gospić-Senj| Gospićko-senjska biskupija| Zdenko Križić| 2000Cathedral of the Annunciation, Gospić>Gospić CathedralSenj Co-cathedral| weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Krk>Diocese of Krk| Krčka biskupija| Ivica Petanjak| 900| Krk Cathedral| weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Poreč-Pula>Diocese of Poreč-Pula| Porečko-pulska biskupija| Ivan Å tironja| 3rd century| Euphrasian BasilicaPula Cathedral| weblinkArchdiocese of Split-Makarska Želimir Puljić (adiministrator) Split CathedralMakarska Co-cathedralsplit.hbk.hr/" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20081217235550split.hbk.hr/">weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Dubrovnik>Diocese of Dubrovnik| Dubrovačka biskupija| Roko Glasnović| 990| Dubrovnik Cathedral| dubrovnik.hbk.hr/" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20130419054603dubrovnik.hbk.hr/">weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis>Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis| Hvarsko-bračko-viÅ¡ka biskupija| Ranko Vidović| 12th century| Hvar Cathedral| /Roman Catholic Diocese of Kotor>Diocese of Kotor (in Montenegro)| Kotorska biskupija | Rrok Gjonlleshaj (administrator)| 10th century| Kotor Cathedral| www.kotorskabiskupija.net/" title="https:/-/web.archive.org/web/20081212221637www.kotorskabiskupija.net/">weblinkRoman Catholic Diocese of Å ibenik>Diocese of Å ibenik| Å ibenska biskupija| Tomislav Rogić| 1298| Å ibenik Cathedral| weblinkArchdiocese of Zadar Želimir Puljić Zadar CathedralweblinkMilitary Ordinariate of Croatia>Military Ordinariate| Vojni ordinarijat| Jure Bogdan| 1997|| weblinkThe bishops are organized into the Croatian Conference of Bishops, which is presided by the Archbishop of Zadar Mons. Želimir Puljić.There are also historical bishoprics, including:

• Diocese of Senj-ModruÅ¡

As of 2009, there were 1570 Catholic parishes in Croatia.WEB,arhiva.nacional.hr/clanak/57295/kad-tata-sluzi-misu, Kad tata služi misu – Nacional.hr, 18 April 2017,

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

Attitudes

Although the vast majority of Croatians declare themselves as Catholics, a certain share of them do not follow the Church’s teaching on moral and social issues. According to a Pew Research poll from 2017, only 27% of respondents attended mass regularly, 25% supported the Church’s stance on contraception, 43% supported the Church’s stance on ordination of women and 38% thought abortion should be illegal in most cases. On the other hand, 66% supported the Church’s stance on same-sex marriage.WEB, Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe,assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2017/05/09154356/Central-and-Eastern-Europe-Topline_FINAL-FOR-PUBLICATION.pdf, Pew Research Center,web.archive.org/web/20230326224803/https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2017/05/09154356/Central-and-Eastern-Europe-Topline_FINAL-FOR-PUBLICATION.pdf, 2023-03-26, live,

Controversies

The Catholic Church in Croatia is criticised by some for promoting and tolerating neo-fascismWEB,www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/croatia-s-catholic-church-easy-on-fascist-sympathizers-05-09-2016, Croatian Church Urged to Tackle ‘Fascist Sympathisers’ :: Balkan Insight, www.balkaninsight.com, 10 May 2016, 2017-07-02, among its ranks:Each year in December, the Catholic church in Croatia holds the annual memorial massNEWS,www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/u-centru-zagreba-odrzana-misa-zadusnica-za-antu-pavelica-okupila-se-sacica-obozavatelja-ustaskog-zlocinca-pozirali-u-majicama-s-velikim-slovom-u/5445123/, U Centru Zagreba Održana Misa ZaduÅ¡nica Za Antu Pavelića Okupila se Å¡ačica obožavatelja ustaÅ¡kog zločinca, pozirali u majicama s velikim slovom ‘U’, jutarnji.hr, 2017-07-01, en, dedicated to Ustasha fascist dictator Ante Pavelić in Zagreb and Split. These masses are known to attract groups of Pavelić’s supporters dressed in clothes with Ustasha insignia.WEB,www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/memorial-service-for-croat-fascist-dictator-condemned, Memorial Mass for Croatian Nazi Slammed as ‘Disgrace’ :: Balkan Insight, www.balkaninsight.com, 30 December 2014, 2017-07-01, NEWS,www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/zuroff-protests-against-mass-for-ustasha-leader-pavelic-20120102/print, Zuroff protests against Mass for Ustasha leader Pavelic, tportal.hr, 2017-07-01, During the funeral of convicted ustasha WWII concentration camp commander Dinko Å akić, priest Vjekoslav Lasić said that “every honest Croat should be proud of Å akić’s name“NEWS,www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/novosti/hrvatska/clanak/id/15504/pateru-vjekoslavu-lasicu-prijeti-zatvorska-kazna, Pateru Vjekoslavu Lasiću prijeti zatvorska kazna, Slobodna Dalmacija, 2017-07-01, hr-HR, NEWS,www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/zasto-je-hrvatska-vlast-odsutjela-sakicev-sprovod/396698.aspx, ZaÅ¡to je hrvatska vlast odÅ¡utjela Å akićev sprovod?, 2017-07-01, hr, and that “court which convicted Å akić, also convicted Croatia and its people”.NEWS,www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/novosti/hrvatska/clanak/id/15341/pater-lasic-sakicu-je-bog-sve-oprostio, Pater Lasić: Å akiću je Bog sve oprostio, Slobodna Dalmacija, 2017-07-01, hr-HR, These statements were strongly condemned by Simon Wiesenthal Center and Croatian Helsinki Committee.Croatian president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was criticised on live TV by Croatian friar Luka Prcela for saying that the Independent State of Croatia was a criminal state and wasn’t independent. Prcela said that the Independent State of Croatia “never killed anyone outside its own borders” and that former two left-wing presidents of Croatia were “anti-Croatian”.NEWS,net.hr/danas/hrvatska/sramota-uzivo-na-htv-u-svecenik-s-oltara-zamjerio-predsjednici-zbog-izjave-o-zlocinackoj-ndh/, Sramota Uživo Na HTV-u: Svećenik s oltara: ‘Ne mogu oprostiti predsjednici jer je rekla da je NDH bila zločinačka’, 2016-05-08, Net.hr, 2017-07-01, hr-HR, Bishop of Sisak Vlado KoÅ¡ić was one of the signatories of a petition for the introduction of the fascist Ustasha movement salute Za dom spremni to the official use in the Croatian Armed Forces.NEWS,www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/bizarnu-peticiju-potpisao-i-simunic-od-predsjednice-traze-uvodenje-pozdrava-za-dom-spremni-u-oruzane-snage/293053/, Bizarnu Peticiju Potpisao I Å imunić Od predsjednice traže uvoÄ‘enje pozdrava ‘Za dom spremni’ u Oružane snage!, jutarnji.hr, 2017-07-01, en, On 1 July 2017, Don AnÄ‘elko Kaćunko held a memorial mass for Ustasha Black Legion commander Jure Francetić on which he described Francetić as “a patriot who was willing to give his life for the homeland”.NEWS,www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/propalo-postavljanje-ploce-u-spomen-ustasi-juri-franceticu-specijalci-oduzeli-plocu-kacunko-odrzao-misu-zadusnicu-francetic-je-bio-domoljub/6324049/, Propalo Postavljanje Ploče U Spomen UstaÅ¡i Juri Francetiću Specijalci oduzeli ploču, Kaćunko održao misu zaduÅ¡nicu: ‘Francetić je bio domoljub’, jutarnji.hr, 2017-07-01, en, On 2 July 2017, media published a picture of a Croatian Catholic priest posing for a picture with a group of young boys on a children’s football tournament in Å iroki Brijeg, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their team was named “The Black Legion” and boys were all wearing black T-shirts, thus alluding to notorious ustasha militia of the same name.NEWS,100posto.hr/news/promocija-ustastva-ne-staje-na-turniru-u-sirokom-brijegu-pobijedila-maloljetna-momcad-crna-legija, Uz Punu PodrÅ¡ku Župnika / Promocija ustaÅ¡tva ne staje: Na turniru u Å irokom Brijegu pobijedila maloljetna momčad ‘Crna legija’!, 100posto.hr, 2017-07-02, hr-HR, 2018-09-25,web.archive.org/web/20180925220002/https://100posto.hr/news/promocija-ustastva-ne-staje-na-turniru-u-sirokom-brijegu-pobijedila-maloljetna-momcad-crna-legija, dead, On 2 September 2017, while holding a mass near the town of Sinj, friar Božo Norac Kljajo equalized Za dom spremni and Praised be Jesus by saying that these are “both good intentioned, human and ancient Christian salutes which don’t hold a single drop of hate or vengeance.“NEWS,hr.n1info.com/a246612/Vijesti/Hvaljen-Isus-i-Za-dom-spremni-starokrscanski-su-pozdravi.html, Hvaljen Isus i Za dom spremni dva su starokršćanska pozdrava, N1 HR, 2017-09-03, hr, 2017-09-07,hr.n1info.com/a246612/Vijesti/Hvaljen-Isus-i-Za-dom-spremni-starokrscanski-su-pozdravi.html," title="web.archive.org/web/20170907015435hr.n1info.com/a246612/Vijesti/Hvaljen-Isus-i-Za-dom-spremni-starokrscanski-su-pozdravi.html,">web.archive.org/web/20170907015435hr.n1info.com/a246612/Vijesti/Hvaljen-Isus-i-Za-dom-spremni-starokrscanski-su-pozdravi.html, dead, Upon the death of Slavko Goldstein, a prominent Croatian writer and publisher of Jewish origin, Mili Plenković, pastor of Hvar, published a Facebook post in which he expressed that he was “happy upon hearing the news that Goldstein died” because according to him: “yet another hater of Croatia vanished from this world”.NEWS,www.jutarnji.hr/vijesti/hrvatska/obradovala-me-je-vijest-da-je-umro-goldstein-jedan-mrzitelj-hrvatske-nestao-je-s-ovog-svijeta-objava-hvarskog-svecenika-sokirala-i-njegove-vjernike/6555726/, ‘Obradovala Me Je Vijest Da Je Umro Goldstein. Jedean Mrzitelj Hrvatske Nestao Je S Ovog Svijeta’ Objava hvarskog svećenika Å¡okirala i njegove vjernike, jutarnji.hr, 2017-09-16, en, WEB,www.vijesti.rtl.hr/novosti/hrvatska/2722969/hvarski-svecenik-sokirao-reakcijom-na-vijest-o-smrti-hrvatskog-intelektualca-obradovala-me-vijest-da-je-umro-dr-slavko-goldstein/, Hvarski svećenik Å¡okirao reakcijom na vijest o smrti hrvatskog intelektualca: ‘Obradovala me vijest da je umro dr. Slavko Goldstein’, Vijesti.hr, Vijesti.hr, 16 September 2017, hr, 2017-09-16,

Places of Pilgrimage of the Croats

• AljmaÅ¡
• Ludbreg
• Our Lady of Marija Bistrica
• Our Lady of Sinj
• Our Lady of Trsat

Notable people

• Josip Bozanić
• Juraj Dobrila, 19th-century bishop from Istria
• Ivan GrubiÅ¡ić, priest from Dalmatia, Member of Parliament 2011–2015
• Marija Krucifiksa Kozulić, established the only indigenous community of nuns founded in the Archdiocese of Rijeka
• Franjo Kuharić
• Antun Mahnić, initiator of the Croatian Catholic Movement
• Ivan Merz, blessed layman and Catholic activist
• Alojzije Stepinac, archbishop of Zagreb during World War II
• Josip Juraj Strossmayer
• Franjo Å eper
• Mihalj Å ilobod BolÅ¡ić (1724–1787), a Roman Catholic priest, mathematician, writer, and musical theorist primarily known for writing the first Croatian arithmetic textbook Arithmatika Horvatzka (published in Zagreb, 1758)

See also

• Croatia–Holy See relations

References

{{Reflist|3}}

Sources

• BOOK, Phayer, Michael, Michael Phayer, The Catholic Church and the Holocaust, 1930–1965, 2000, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 9780253337252,archive.org/details/catholicchurchho00phay, registration,
• BOOK, Phayer, Michael, Michael Phayer, Pius XII, the Holocaust, and the Cold War, 2008, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana University Press, 9780253349309,books.google.com/books?id=CgTZAAAAMAAJ,
• BOOK, Marcus, Tanner, Croatia: A Nation Forged in War,archive.org/details/croatianationfor0000tann_q6e5, registration, Yale University Press, 1997, 0-300-07668-1, Tanner_1997

,

External links

{{commons category|Roman Catholic Church in Croatia}}

• Croatian Conference of Bishops

{{Catholicism in Europe}}