Parishes 114 Metropolitan archbishop Stanislav Hočevar | Area 8,042 km² | |
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Population- Total- Catholics (as of 2010)1,012,821289,591 (28.6%) Established 10 February 1923(As Apostolic Administration of Jugoslavenska Backa)25 January 1968(As Diocese of Subotica) Ecclesiastical province | ||
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Subotica (Latin: Dioecesis Suboticana, Serbian: Суботичка бискупија / Subotička biskupija, Hungarian: Szabadkai Egyházmegye, Croatian: Subotička biskupija, Bunjevac: Subotička biskupija) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Vojvodina, Serbia. It is subject to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belgrade. The Diocese is centered in the city of Subotica. János Pénzes currently serves as bishop.
Contents
Territory
The Diocese of Subotica encompasses the Serbian part of the Bačka region, which is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina.
The diocese's cathedral is the Cathedral of Saint Teresa of Avila in Subotica, dating back to 1779.
The diocese is multi-ethnic and has members primarily from the sizable Hungarian, Croat and Bunjevci communities, among others.
History
It was erected as Apostolic Administration for Yugoslav Bačka in 1923 and elevated to a diocese in 1968.
Before the end of World War II, there was also a sizable number of Catholic Germans in the area of this Diocese. From the middle 1980s, and especially during the 1990s, number of Catholics in the territory of this diocese decreased due to various reasons, including low birth rates among local Catholics, economic emigration, and ethnic tensions of the Yugoslav wars.
Administrators and bishops
Education
The diocese runs the only Catholic high school in the country, the Paulinum gymnasium.
Press
Hitélet is the oldest Roman Catholic monthly magazine of the diocese in Hungarian language, founded by László Huzsvár, the later bishop of Zrenjanin.
Hírviviő is the weekly Roman Catholic magazine of the diocese in Hungarian language.
Zvonik is a Roman Catholic magazine founded by Croat priests from Roman Catholic Diocese of Subotica. It's being published in Croatian language.
Notable individuals
Blessed Mary of Jesus Crucified Petković solicited for help in this Diocese and founded children's homes (for poor and abandoned children) and monasteries of her Order, Order of Daughters of Mercy.