Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana | |
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Location | |
Territory | Northern Croatia and Slovenia Italy (1994–2011) |
Headquarters | Zagreb, Croatia |
Statistics | |
Population - Total |
300,000 est. |
Information | |
Denomination | Eastern Orthodox |
Sui iuris church | Serbian Orthodox Church |
Established | 1557 |
Language |
Church Slavonic Serbian |
Current leadership | |
Bishop | Metropolitan Porfirije |
Map | |
Website | |
mitropolija-zagrebacka.org |
Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana (in Serbian language: Митрополија загребачко-љубљанска) is Eastern Orthodox eparchy (diocese) and one of the five honorary Metropolitanates of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The headquarters of the Metropolia is located in Zagreb, Croatia and its jurisdiction covers northern Croatia and the entire territory of Slovenia.
The above-mentioned regions are inhabited by Serbs who for the most part settled there after fleeing Bosnia before the Ottoman conquest of Bosnia. In some areas, such as the Habsburg Military Krajina, Serbs constituted the largest ethnic group. In 1438, Pope Eugene IV sent Jakob de Marcia to Slavonia as a missionary to baptize "schismatic" Serbs in "Roman religion", and if that failed, to banish them. Since the renewal of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in 1557, the Orthodox Serbs of Old Slavonia spiritual guidance of the Diocese of Požega, who is enthroned at the Orahovica Monastery. 1595 seat of the Diocese from Orahovica is moved to Western Slavonia in order to avoid a Turkish oppression. New headquarters is located in Marča Monastery. Marča archbishops led the difficult fight against Roman Catholic proselytism.
In addition, Monastery Marča, the other spiritual center of Orthodox Serbs in the area was and still is Lepavina Monastery. Abbot Kondrat of Lepavina was killed in 1716, defending the purity of Orthodox faith. He was killed by those Serbs who had become Catholics. In 1734 the headquarters moved to a monastery at Lepavina and the Diocese was called "Eparchy of Lepavina". Serbian Orthodox bishop Simeon Filipović of Lepavina (1734-1743) also had residence in Sjeverin. After his death and several years of administration, Eparchy of Lepavina was abolished and in 1750 its territory came under jurisdiction of Serbian Orthodox bishops of Kostajnica. In 1771, the region came under jurisdiction of Orthodox Bishops of Pakrac, and that remained until 1931.