Greek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci


The Greek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci is an eparchy of the Catholic Church for Eastern Catholics of Byzantine Rite in part of the former Yugoslavia, with its seat in Križevci, Croatia. It is part of the Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia, an Eastern Catholic Church sui iuris of the Byzantine Rite which is in full union with the Roman Catholic Church. The Eparchy is currently vacant since the retirement of Bishop Nikola Kekić in March 2019, and is administered by Fr. Milan Stipić.
The eparchy has jurisdiction over Eastern Catholics of Byzantine Rite in Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. It mostly gathers its faithful among ethnic Croats in central and eastern Croatia, and among the Rusyns in eastern Slavonia, with a small Serbian minority. The liturgy used by the Eparchy is the Slavonic form of the Byzantine Rite, using the Old Church Slavonic language and the Cyrillic alphabet.

History

Historical background

The Ottoman wars in Europe caused a number of Christian refugees, Orthodox Serbs, to migrate to the Military Frontier of the Habsburg Monarchy during the 16th and 17th centuries. In particular after the Ottoman defeat in Battle of Sisak of 1593, the Habsburg tried to established an ecclesiastical jurisdiction in full communion with Rome and separated from the Serbian Orthodox Church. After negotiations, it was decided to establish a particular Byzantine Rite jurisdiction in the form of an apostolic vicariate based in the monastery of Marča.
The basis for the creation of Apostolic Vicariate of Marča was formally enabled by Pope Paul V on 21 November 1611 with the decree Divinae Majestatis arbitrio, and the administration of the Vicariate was given to eparchs who bore the title Episcopus Platæensis, while the Habsburg government called this see Episcopatus Svidnicensis or Episcopatus Maciensum. After the death in 1630 of the first eparch, Simeon Vratanja, and in 1628 of the Latin Bishop of Zagreb, Petar Dimitrović, the eparchy came into conflict with the Latins and in 1671 bishop accepted for himself and his successors the position of vicar-general of the Latin bishops of Zagreb.
On 17 November 1735, the supporters of the Serbian Orthodox Church occupied by force of arms the monastery of Marča and two years later, on 17 June 1737, set fire to it. The monastery was restored to the Byzantine Rite Catholics in 1753.

Erection of the Eparchy of Križevci

To support the pastoral action for the Greek Rite population, the Habsburg Empress Maria Theresa realized that it was necessary to grant independence to the eparchy, and she obtained from Pope Pius VI its separation from the Latin Diocese of Zagreb, in a similar way as occurred in 1771 for the Eparchy of Mukacheve from the Diocese of Eger.
Accordingly, on 17 June 1777, Pope Pius VI erected the Greek Rite Eparchy of Križevci which superseded the Eparchy of Marča. Vasilije Božičković, who played a prominent role in the erection of the eparchy, was chosen as first eparch,
Many Orthodox Serbs opposed the new eparchy, particularly the metropolitan of Karlovci, Arsenije III Čarnojević. However the soldiers of the Žumberak regiment of the Military Frontier joined the Eparchy of Križevci.
Križevci, the location of the see, is a town northeast of Zagreb. The new bishop was a suffragan initially of the Archdiocese of Esztergom, and later of Zagreb, after this became a metropolitan see in 1852.

Expansion

The Eparchy of Križevci was expanded after World War I to include all Greek Catholics in Yugoslavia. Owing to this expansion and to population movements over time, Križevci includes Catholics of varied national heritage including:
Until 2001, the Eparchy of Križevci had full jurisdiction over all Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite throughout the entire territory of former Yugoslavia, including all of its successor states: Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia. In January 2001, a separate Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Macedonia was formed for Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Macedonia. It was fully separated from the Eparchy of Križevci and directly subjected to the Holy See.
In 2003, a new Apostolic Exarchate was created for Eastern Catholics of the Byzantine Rite in Serbia and Montenegro, called the Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro. Its first exarch Đura Džudžar was appointed in 2003, with residence in Ruski Krstur. This exarchate remained in association with the Eparchy of Križevci. After those changes, the jurisdiction of Eparchy of Križevci was reduced to Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
In 2013, all Catholics of Byzantine Rite in Montenegro were entrusted to the local Latin Bishops, so the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro was reduced to just Serbia. Since then, the Eparchy of Križevci and the Greek Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia together constitute the Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia as a sui iuris Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine Rite, in full union with the Roman Catholic Church.

Extension

The Eparchy reported for the year 2010 a total of 21,509 faithful in the eparchy proper and 22,369 in the Apostolic Exarchate for Serbia and Montenegro.
In comparison, the most recently published census results for the Republic of Croatia, those of 2001, report only 6,219 Croatians defining themselves specifically as Greek Catholics.
A historical trend of a sharp decline in numbers, particularly in the general vicinity of Zumberak, is explained by a number of factors including emigration, particularly to the United States, and rural depopulation, particularly in the period following the second world war.

Diaspora

The first Greek Catholic priest from Croatia came to the United States of America in 1902, whose work among Byzantine-Rite Croatians in Cleveland was encouraged by the bishop of Križevci. Another Croatian priest came to Allegheny, Pennsylvania, in 1894. Križevci is one of the four Eastern European eparchies that are the roots of the Eastern Rite Catholic Churches in the United States.

Vicariates

The eparchy is made up of four vicariates:
The list of the eparchs of the Greek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci is:
#IncumbentFromUntil
1Vasilije Božičković, O.S.B.M.15 July 17779 May 1785
2Jozafat Bastašić, O.S.B.M.30 March 178928 August 1793
3Silvestar Bubanović, O.S.B.M.8 November 179514 June 1810
4Konstantin Stanić10 September 181531 July 1830
5Gabrijel Smičiklas8 September 183414 March 1856
6Đuro Smičiklas21 December 185720 April 1881
7Ilija Hranilović15 March 188320 March 1889
8Julije Drohobeczky17 December 189118 May 1917
9Dionisije NjaradiApostolic Administrator, 1917–1920'Bishop, 1920–194018 May 191714 April 1940
10Janko ŠimrakApostolic Administrator, 1941–1942'Bishop, 1942–194616 August 19419 August 1946
11Gabrijel BukatkoApostolic Administrator, 1952–1960'Bishop, 1960–1961'Apostolic Administrator, 1961–198123 February 195219 October 1981
-Joakim SegediAuxiliary Bishop24 February 196327 October 1984
12Slavomir Miklovš22 January 198325 May 2009
13Nikola Kekić25 May 200918 March 2019
-Fr. Milan StipićApostolic Administrator18 March 2019Present