Erected on July 5, 1881, the diocese is a suffragan of the
Archdiocese of Vrhbosna, as the Diocese of Banjaluka. In 1985, the name of the diocese was split to the current diocese of Banja Luka. The current bishop of Banja Luka is
Rev. Željko Majić.
The original
Cathedral of Saint Bonaventure in the city was built in 1887. However, an earthquake in 1969 levelled the church. Banja Luka's current cathedral was built in 1974.
The city of Banja Luka, and much of the territory that the diocese covers contains an
Orthodox Christian majority. The
Bosnian War greatly affected the diocese. Virtually all of the churches in the bishopric sustained some damage, and many were destroyed. Many Catholics were expelled from the region or fled, leaving only a fraction remaining. Bishop Komarica has been urging people to return, to mixed results.
History
Christianity arrived on the territory of present-day diocese of Banja Luka during the Roman rule in the first century AD. Christians and bishops from the area settled around two metropolitan seats,
Salona and
Sirmium. In this area there was at that time the seat of at least one diocese, Diocese of Baloie (probably near
Šipovo), whose bishop participated in the church synod of Salona in 530.
Catholic churches and monasteries before the Ottoman conquest
After the barbaric invasion and after the settlement of Slavic tribes, these regions belonged to the surrounding dioceses:
Split,
Nin,
Knin,
Krbava and
Bosnia, and the area of today's Banja Luka and the entire northern region was part of the
Diocese of Zagreb. A rich life of the Catholic Church in this region before falling under Ottoman rule is testified by numerous churches from ancient and medieval times discovered on the territory of the Diocese. The highest concentration was in the Bihać Deanery area.
The
Ottoman conquest that brought the demolition of Catholic churches and the
islamization of the population, almost completely destroyed the presence of the Catholic Church in these areas, with the exception of southern regions around
Livno. City of Bihać resisted the longest, until 1591. From the time of the Ottoman conquest, the pastoral clergy in these parts were almost exclusively Bosnian Franciscans. On the Livno area was recorded the presence of
Glagolitic Catholic secular priests who celebrated the Slavic liturgy. The bishops did not dare to come to parts of their dioceses that fell under Turkish rule. That is why, in 1735, instead of the existing dioceses, the
Holy See founded the
Apostolic Vicariate in Ottoman Bosnia (Vicariatus Apostolicus Bosniae Othomanae). The Catholic church in Banja Luka was particularly hard hit during the
War of the Holy League (1683–1699). In 1737 parish church in Banja Luka was burned and numerous believers migrated to the Habsburg possessions.
St. Francis' Church in
Mahovljani was built in 1902 for the newly arrived Italian Catholics
After the renewal of the regular hierarchy, the Diocese was governed by the apostolic nuncio in
Vienna, and from 1883 to 1884, by the Archbishop of Vrhbosna,
Josip Stadler, who served as an apostolic administrator of the Diocese.
At the time of its founding, the Diocese had some 36,000 believers. This number has accelerated rapidly with the arrival of the Austrian authorities. During the next decades, numerous Poles, Italians, Germans, Czechs and others moved in the area of the Diocese.
During the Second World War and after the war, the Diocese was catastrophically harmed. One third of all the parishes (13) have completely perished, in 10 of parishes a number of parishioners dropped significantly, and all the others were seriously injured. With a large number of killed believers, the diocese suffered severe loss of priests. During the war and after the war, at least 30 priests were killed. The Holy See started the process of beatification of 4 of them on 21 December 2014:
Juraj Gospodnetić,
Waldemar Maximilian Nestor, Antun Dujlović and Krešimir Barišić.[4]
Archbishop of Vrhbosna. Elected on 29 September 1881 and confirmed on 18 November 1881. Consecrated on 20 November 1881. Appointed Apostolic Administrator of Banja Luka on 18 November 1882. He held office until 24 March 1884.
Franciscan friar. Appointed Apostolic Administrator of Banjaluka on 27 March 1884, consecrated on 4 May 1884. Died in office on 20 June 1912.
From 1912 until 1946 Josip Stjepan Garić served as Bishop of Banja Luka
1946
1951
Smiljan Franjo Čekada
Franciscan friar. Appointed Apostolic Administrator of Banjaluka in 1946 after death of bishop Garić. Also served as Auxiliary Bishop of
Vrhbosna (1939–1940), bishop of
Skopje (1940–1967), Coadjutor Archbishop of Vrhbosna (1967–1970) and Archbishop of Vrhbosna (1970–1976).
1951
1958
Dragutin Čelik
Appointed on 15 December 1951 and consecrated on 16 December 1951. Died in office on 11 August 1958.
Appointed on 15 May 1989, previously consecrated on 6 January 1986 as Auxiliary Bishop of Banja Luka and
Titular Bishop of Satafis. Resigned on 8 December 1989.
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kotor Varoš
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ivanjska
Church of Saint Elias in Bosansko Grahovo
Religious orders
Mariastern Monastery (established in 1869)
The Diocese of Banja Luka is home to a small number of religious orders and congregations. While there are not as many today in 2013 as there were in 1950, they still make up a large population of the diocese.
In 1950, there were 71 religious priests, 4 male religious, 310 nuns and sisters ministering in the Diocese.
As of 2013, 47 priests of religious orders, 92 religious sisters and nuns minister in the diocese.
Blessed Ivan Merz –
Bosnian-
Croatian lay academic, beatified by
Pope John Paul II on a visit at
Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 23, 2003. Ivan Merz promoted the liturgical movement in Croatia and together with
Ivo Protulipac created a movement for the young people, "The Croatian union of the Eagles" ("Hrvatski orlovski savez"), inspired by the "Eucharistic Crusade," which he had encountered in
France.