Zagreb, (IKA) – In the year of the Great Jubilee of the Diocese (Eparchy) of Križevci, the 400th anniversary of the renewal of ecclesial communion and the founding of the first Diocese of Marča, an international scientific meeting was held in Zagreb. It was organized by the Central Committee for the Celebration—the Croatian Institute of History and the Catholic Faculty of Theology of the University of Zagreb, under the auspices of the Diocese of Križevci and the media sponsorship of Croatian Catholic Radio.
The meeting began on Wednesday, May 9, in Marča, the ancient see of the diocese, where Bishop (Vladika) Nikola Kekić of Kriiževci blessed the construction site of the Memorial Chapel of St. Michael the Archangel. The new chapel will be built on the site of the former Greek Catholic monastery, which Orthodox Christians, outraged by the Uniate, burned in 1739. The historical circumstances of the establishment of the Diocese of Marča were discussed by the Archimandrite of Marča, Dr. Zvonimir Kurečić. He also blessed the icon of Our Lady of Marča, which will be placed in the chapel.
In the afternoon, participants under the spiritual and expert guidance of the Bishop of Križevci visited Žumberak. They toured the newly built Jubilee Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Jastrebarsko, the Memorial Church of the Annunciation in Pribić, the museum of the convent of the Sisters of St. Basil in Sošice and participated in a Moleben to the Our Lady in the Parish Church of SS. Peter and Paul. They prayed at the Jazovka Pit and then visited the Church of St. Parascheva (Petka) at Budinjak, the Parish Church of St. George in Stojdraga and the Greek Catholic Center of the Patriarch Abraham in Jastrebarsko.
An international scientific meeting was held on May 10 in the Golden Hall of the Croatian Institute of History. The participants were welcomed by Bishop Kekić, who spoke about the celebration thus far and announced further festivities, such as the consecration of the Jubilee Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord in Jastrebarsko on Saturday, May 19, and the large celebration on May 28 in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity with bishops from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and other countries. The Memorial Chapel in Marča will be blessed at the end of September. The conclusion of the Jubilee Celebration will be a meeting in Zagreb of all the Greek Catholic bishops of Europe.
The Head of the Croatian Institute of History, Dr. Jasna Turkalj, briefly introduced the topic of the meeting, emphasizing that following the research conducted by the Bishop Janko Šimrak of Križevci in the first half of the 20th century, this topic had been unjustly neglected in Croatian historiography and presented in a significantly different manner in Serbian historiography.
On behalf of the co-organizer, the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb, meeting participants were greeted by Prof. Jure Zečević, Ph.D., and the Head of the Department of the Christian East of the Institute of Ecumenical Theology and Dialogue, Juraj Križanić, who thanked the Diocese of Križevci for organizing the Jubilee and scientific meeting. He also announced that the proceedings would be published.
The symposium was focused on the achievements in historiographic research on the Diocese of Marča. There was a presentation based on Vatican documents of the act of the signing of the Uniate on November 19 and 21, 1611, in Rome. With regard to the Uniate in Croatia, there was a presentation of the expectations of the Habsburg generals and Zagreb bishops and resistance to the Patriarchate of Peć. There was also mention of saving the Uniate in Žumberak and the relationship between the bishops of Zagreb and Marča.
A professor of medieval and modern Church history at the Catholic Faculty of the University of Augsburg, Dr. Petar Vrankić, presented a lecture entitled “The Jurisdiction of Rome and Byzantium over Illyricum.” An assistant professor of Church history at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb, Dr. Slavko Slišković, spoke about “The Church-Political Situations in Croatia during the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries.” Prof. Mijo Korade, Ph.D., of the Croatian Institute of History and the Center for Croatian Studies, University of Zagreb, lectured on “The Jesuit Order and the Union of Orthodox Christians with the Catholic Church.” Dr. Zlatko Kudelić of the Croatian Institute of History spoke about “The Achievements of Histiographic Research on the Diocese of Marča, while Dr. Tomislav Mrkonjić, OFMconv, of the Pontifical Vatican Archives presented “The Act of Signing the Uniate in Rome on November 19 and 21, 1611, on the Basis of Vatican Documents.” Msgr. Prof. Niko Ikić, Ph.D., of the Catholic Theological Faculty in Sarajevo presented the topic “The Uniate in Croatia: Expectations of the Habsburg Generals and the Zagreb Bishops, and Resistance to the Patriarchate of Peć.” Bishop Kekić then spoke about the bishops of Marča and the Rescue of the Uniate in Žumberak. Damir Bobovac, M.S., of the Diocese of Varaždin, spoke about the relationship between the bishops of Zagreb and Marča, and Dr. Stjepan Razum of the Archives of the Archdiocese of Zagreb presented “The Titularity of the Bishops of Marča.” The Archimandrite of Marča and the Prebendary of the Zagreb Cathedral, Dr. Zvonimir Kurečić, spoke about “The Diocese of Marča-Križevci as ‘Ecclesia sui iuris’ in the Ecclesiological-Canonical Aspect.”
The scientific meeting concluded with Vespers on the eve of the feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius in the Greek Catholic Con-Cathedral in the Upper Town of Zagreb.
On the feast of the holy brothers, Bishop Kekić conducted the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, which was sung by the Choir of Cyril and Methodius.