Roman Catholicism in Croatia
 Catholic Church in Croatia |
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| Katolicizam u Hrvatsko | |
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| Type | National polity |
| Orientation | Catholic Church |
| Governance | Episcopal |
| Pope | Pope Francis |
| President | Želimir Puljić |
| Primate of Croatia | Josip Bozanić |
| Apostolic Nuncio | Alessandro D’Errico |
| Region | Croatia |
| Language | Croatian, Latin |
| Founder | Pope John IV and Abbot Martin, according to tradition |
| Origin | c. 65: in Roman Illyricum c. 640: Croatian Christianity |
| Members | 3,697,143 (2011) |
| Ministers | c. 3800 |
| Official website | Croatian Bishops' Conference |
The Catholic Church in Croatia (Croatian: Katolicizam u Hrvatskoj) is part of the worldwide Catholic Church that is under the spiritual leadership of the Pope, Roman Curia and the Croatian Bishops' Conference. Its administration is centered in Zagreb, and it comprises 5 archdioceses, 13 dioceses and 1 Military Ordinariate. Current Croatian cardinal is Josip Bozanić, Archbishop of Zagreb.
There are an estimated 3.7 million baptized Roman Catholics in Croatia which make 86,3% of the population according to the 2011 census. The national sanctuary of Croatia is in Marija Bistrica, while the country's patron is Saint Joseph since the Croatian Parliament declared him to be in 1687.
The western part of the Balkan Peninsula was conquered by the Roman Empire by 168 BC after a long drawn out process known as the Illyrian Wars. Following their conquests, the Romans organised the area into the province of Illyricum, which was eventually split up into Dalmatia and Pannonia. Through being part of the Roman Empire, various religious cults were brought into the region. This included the Levantine-originated religion of Christianity. Indeed, Salona, a Greek-founded city close to modern Split, was one of the earliest places in the region connected with Christianity. It was able to gain influence first among some of the Dalmatian Jews living in the city. St. Titus, a disciple of St. Paul the Apostle and the subject of the Epistle to Titus in the New Testament, was active in Dalmatia. Indeed, in the Epistle to the Romans, Paul himself speaks of visiting "Illyricum", but he may have meant Illyria Graeca.
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