Eparchy of Marča

Eparchy of Marča
Свидничко-Марчанска епархија[1]

The Marcha Monastery (1775)
Location
Country Habsburg Monarchy
Coordinates 45°45′48″N 16°29′33″E / 45.76333°N 16.49250°E / 45.76333; 16.49250Coordinates: 45°45′48″N 16°29′33″E / 45.76333°N 16.49250°E / 45.76333; 16.49250
Statistics
Members 60,000–72,000
Information
Rite Eastern Catholic
Established 21 November 1611
Dissolved 1753
Leadership
Pope Francis

The Bishopric of Marča (Serbian Cyrillic: Марчанска епархија) was an Eastern Catholic bishopric with its seat in the Marča Monastery, in Marča (today Stara Marča) near Ivanić-Grad, Habsburg Monarchy (today in Croatia) in the period 1611–1753. Although Serb bishop Simeon Vratanja traveled to Rome and formally accepted jurisdiction of the Pope over this bishopric, until 1670 Serb bishops continued to recognize jurisdiction of the Serb Orthodox Church and Patriarchate of Peć and struggled against attempts of Catholic bishops of Zagreb to convert Orthodox Serbs to Catholicism. This semi-union existed until the 1670 appointment of Pavle Zorčić on the position of bishop. All Serb priests who objected to the union were arrested and sentenced to life in prison on Malta where they all died. The bishopric eventually became the Eastern Catholic Eparchy of Križevci.

Name

The name Marča was derived from the name of the nearby hill, Marča. Other names used for this bishopric include Svidnik (Svidnička eparhija), Vretanija (Vretanijska eparhija), and the "Uskok" bishopric.[2].

Background

The Serbs who settled Croatia and Slavonia in early 16th century were Orthodox Christians.[2] In 1550 they established the Lepavina Monastery.[2] At the end of the 16th century a group of Serb Orthodox priests built a monastery dedicated to Saint Archangel Gabriel (Serbian: Манастир Светог Арханђела Гаврила) on the foundations (or near them)[3] of the deserted and destroyed Catholic Monastery of All Saints.[4]

Eparchy of Vretanija

Some scholars promoted the view that Marča, as a diocese of the Patriarchate of Peć, was established in the late 16th century (1578 or 1597).[5] This theory was used as evidence of the long-time presence of the Serb population on the northern bank of river Sava.[5]

In 1609 Serb Orthodox priests established Marča Monastery in Marča near Ivanić-Grad.[2] In the same year the Marča Monastery became a seat of the Eparchy of Vretanija.[2] This bishopric was the westernmost eparchy of the Patriarchate of Peć.[6] Its name was derived from Vretanija (Serbian: Вретанијски остров) which was a part of the title of the Serbian patriarch.[6] Its first bishop was Simeon Vratanja, appointed in 1609 by Serbian patriarch Jovan on the position of bishop of all Orthodox Serbs settled to Croatia.[7] This appointment marked establishment of the Eparchy of Vretanja in 1609 according to Aleksa Ivić.[8]

Establishment as Eastern Catholic Church

Being under strong pressure from Croatian clergy and state officials to recognize the jurisdiction of the Pope, and to convert the population of his bishopric to Eastern Catholicism, Simeon Vratanja visited Pope Paul V in 1611 and recognized his jurisdiction and maybe the Union of Florence as well.[9] The strongest influence to his decision had Martin Dobrović, who convinced Simeon to recognize papal jurisdiction and to accept the Eastern Catholicism.[10][11]

In November 1611, the Pope appointed Simeon as bishop of Serbs of Slavonia, Croatia and Hungary. He also granted all estates that once belonged to the Catholic Monastery of All Saints to the Marča Monastery.[12] On 21 November 1611 Marča was established as an eparchy (bishopric) of the Eastern Catholic Church,[13] having around 60,000 believers.[1]

History

Period of semi-union (1611–1670)

Simeon continued to use Slavic language, Julian calendar and maintained connection with Patriarchate of Peć.[14]

In 1642 Benedikt Vinković wrote a letter to emperor Ferdinand III to write a report about "Vlachs" (Orthodox Serbs).[15] Vinković's activities were aimed against Serb bishop of Marča, Maksim Predojević, whom he reported to the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith when Predojević refused to support the conversion of the population of his bishopric to Catholicism.[16] Vinković had intention to depose Predojević and appoint Rafael Levaković instead.[17]

In 1648 the king appointed Sava Stanislavić as bishop of the Bishopric of Marča, as wished by the Slavonian Serbs, although Petar Petretić, bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Zagreb proposed another candidate.[18]

This kind of semi-union attitude of Serb bishops of the Bishopric of Marča remained until 1670 and appointment of Pavle Zorčić on the position of bishop. All priests of the Bishopric of Marča who objected to the union were arrested and taken to life-prison on Malta where they all died.[19]

Period of union (1670–1753)

In 1754 around 17,000 Serb Uskoks rebelled in support of the Marča Monastery, the seat of Uskok bishopric.[2] The treasury of the Marča Monastery was very rich. In 1753 the monastery was abandoned, as ordered by Empress Maria Theresia, and its treasury was almost completely robbed, probably by the members of Eastern Catholic Church.[20]

Bishops

The bishops of the Eparchy of Marča were:

References

  1. 1 2 Foundation 2001, p. 97.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Vukcevich 2013, p. 153.
  3. ↑ Kudelić 2002, p. 145.
  4. ↑ Kolarić 2002, p. 77.
  5. 1 2 Kudelić 2002, p. 147.
  6. 1 2 Ćirković 2008, p. 164.
  7. ↑ Maković 2005, p. 12.
  8. ↑ Kudelić 2002, p. 148.
  9. ↑ Milutin Miltojević, Serbian Historiography of Union of Serbs in the 17th century, Niš University, p. 225
  10. ↑ Ivić 1909, p. 45.
  11. ↑ arhiv 1916, p. 89.
  12. ↑ "Манастир Марча". Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Z. Kudelić, Isusovačko izvješće o krajiškim nemirima 1658. i 1666. godine,Hrvatski institut za povijest, 2007, page 121
  14. ↑ Milutin Miltojević, Serbian Historiography of Union of Serbs in the 17th century, Niš University, p. 225
  15. ↑ tisak 1917, p. 37.
  16. ↑ Kašić 1967, p. 49.
  17. ↑ Kašić 1988, p. 144.
  18. ↑ Spomenica 1996, p. 74.
  19. ↑ Milutin Miltojević, Serbian Historiography of Union of Serbs in the 17th century, Niš University, p. 225
  20. ↑ Medaković 1971, p. 236.

Sources

Further reading

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