Roman Catholic Diocese of Mostar-Duvno
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mostar-Duvno is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church encompassing Herzegovina. The diocese, as well as the Franciscan Province, is centred in the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was formed on July 5, 1881. However, the Diocese of Duvno existed long before 1881, and was erected sometime in the 6th century.
The seat of the bishopric is in the Cathedral of Mary the Mother of the Church. The diocese releases two monthly magazines: Naša ognjišta by the Franciscan Province, and Crkva na kamenu by the bishopric.
The diocese covers area of 8.368 km sq, with 175.395 Catholic in 66 parishes of the diocese. There are 73 diocesen priests. A number of parishes belong to the Francisican Province of Herzegovina.
The current bishop of Mostar is Mons. Ratko Perić. He also serves as administrator of the Diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan. Trebinje-Mrkan was united with Mostar-Duvno in 1890.History
In 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina, previously held by the Ottoman Empire, was occupied by Austria-Hungary. In 1881, Emperor Franz Joesph formed the ecclesiastical province of Sarajevo with three sees of Banja Luka, Trebinje-Mrkan and Mostar-Duvno. The bishop of Mostar-Duvno administered the Diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan as well. At the time of its establishment, the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno had 130,000 Catholics.
The archive of the Diocesan Ordinariate of Mostar was confiscated by the authorities of Communist Yugoslavia in 1948.Episcopal ordinaries
