| Greek Catholic Church in Croatia and Serbia | |
|---|---|
| Croatian:Grkokatolička crkva u Hrvatskoj i Srbiji Serbian:Гркокатоличка црква у Хрватској и Србији | |
 Coat of arms of Eparch Milan Stipić of the Eparchy of Križevci | |
| Type | Particular church (sui iuris) |
| Classification | Christian |
| Orientation | Eastern Catholic |
| Polity | Episcopal |
| Structure | twoeparchies |
| Pope | Leo XIV |
| Bishops | Milan Stipić,Đura Džudžar |
| Region | Bosnia and Herzegovina,Croatia,Serbia,Slovenia |
| Language | Church Slavonic |
| Liturgy | Byzantine Rite |
TheGreek Catholic Church in Croatia and Serbia[a] orByzantine Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia, is a particular (sui iuris)Eastern Catholic church infull communion with theCatholic Church. It consists of theGreek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci,[1] coveringCroatia,Slovenia,Bosnia and Herzegovina, and theGreek Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur,[2] coveringSerbia. The Eparchy of Križevci is headed by BishopMilan Stipić since 2020.[3] The Eparchy of Ruski Krstur is headed by BishopĐura Džudžar since 2003 (until 2018 as Apostolic Exarch).[4]
Although the two eparchies are canonically linked, the church has no unified structure, nor anecclesiastical province of its own, since the Eparchy of Križevci issuffragan to theLatin ChurchArchdiocese of Zagreb, and the Eparchy of Ruski Krstur is directly subject to the Holy See.
The Greek Catholic Church in Croatia and Serbia originated from the Union ofMarča in 1611.[5] The Greek Catholic Church in Croatia has existed since the 17th century and was created byChristians of theGreek-Slavic rite who fled before theTurks fromBosnia andSlavonia and moved to the area of the Military Frontier (Vojna krajina) and the western parts of Croatia. The seat of the Greek Catholic Church in Croatia has been inKriževci since 1777.[6]
In May 1836, the firstRuthenian Greek Catholic parish in the territory of today's Croatia was founded inPetrovci.[7]
Until 2001, theGreek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci had full jurisdiction over allEastern Catholics of theByzantine Rite throughout the entire territory of formerYugoslavia, including all of its successor states:Croatia,Slovenia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Serbia,Montenegro andNorth Macedonia. During that time, it mostly gathered its faithful among theCroats in central and eastern Croatia, among thePannonian Rusyns andUkrainians in eastern Croatia, northern Bosnia and northernSerbia and amongMacedonians inNorth Macedonia.
After the formation of independent successor states from what had beenYugoslavia, the process of administrative reorganization was initiated. In 2001, a separate Greek CatholicApostolic Exarchate of Macedonia was formed for Greek Catholics inNorth Macedonia. It was fully separated from the Eparchy of Križevci and proclaimed as directly subject only to the Holy See.[8]
In 2003, a newapostolic exarchate was created for Greek Catholics in Serbia and Montenegro, theApostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro.[9] Its first exarchĐura Džudžar (Ђура Џуџар) was appointed in 2003, with residence inRuski Krstur. This exarchate remained in association with the Eparchy of Križevci.
After those changes, the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Križevci was confined 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 ofApostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro was reduced toSerbia only.[10] The Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia was elevated to theGreek Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur in December 2018.[11]
Theliturgy is the Slavonic form ofByzantine Rite, using theOld Church Slavonic language and theCyrillic alphabet.
TheEparchy of Križevci reported for the year 2010 a total of 21,509 faithful (in Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina). At that time, theApostolic Exarchate for Serbia and Montenegro reported 22,369 faithful.[12]
| Eparchies |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Churches | ||
| Bishops | ||
| Former dioceses | ||
| See also | ||
| Patriarchal churches |
|  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Major archiepiscopal churches | ||||||
| Metropolitan churches | ||||||
| Othersui iuris churches | ||||||
