The Metropolitanate of Zagreb and Ljubljana (Serbian: Митрополија загребачко-љубљанска, romanized: Mitropolija zagrebačko-ljubljanska) is an 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.
In the first half of the 16th century, Slavonia was devastated by frequent wars. The eastern part (Lower Slavonia) was conquered by the Ottomans, while the western part (Upper Slavonia) came under Habsburg rule.[2] Since the renewal of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć in 1557, the Orthodox Serbs of Lower Slavonia were placed under the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Požega, centered at the Orahovica Monastery.[3] In 1595, the Serbian Orthodox metropolitan Vasilije of Požega moved to Upper Slavonia, under Habsburg rule, in order to avoid Turkish oppression.[1] His successors were headquartered in the Marča Monastery. In those areas, Serb migrants served as soldiers of the Varaždin Generalate. During the 17th century, bishops of Marča led the difficult fight against Roman Catholic proselytism.[citation needed]
In addition to Marča Monastery, 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 the 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, the Eparchy of Lepavina was abolished, and in 1750 its territory came under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox bishops of Kostajnica. In 1771, the region came under the jurisdiction of the Orthodox bishops of Pakrac, and that remained until 1931.[citation needed] This eparchy was suffragan of the Metropolitanate of Karlovci, autocephalous after 1766 (it became the Patriarchate of Karlovci in 1848).
20th century
Soon after the creation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (1918), all Serbian Orthodox ecclesiastical provinces were merged into the united Serbian Orthodox Church in 1920. Since the city of Zagreb was the second capital of the kingdom, initiative was revived for the restoration of the old "Eparchy of Lepavina" under newly proposed name "Eparchy of Zagreb". After long preparations, the region was detached from the Eparchy of Pakrac in 1931, and the new Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Zagreb was created, with its bishop receiving the honorary title of Metropolitan.[4]
The first Eastern Orthodox Metropolitan of Zagreb was Dositej Vasić, a learned theologian and man of broad vision and understanding in relations with other nations and religions. In spite of that, after the Nazi occupation of Yugoslavia in World War II and the creation of the Independent State of Croatia (1941), he was arrested and tortured. As a consequence, he died in 1945, exiled from his eparchy.[5] From 1942 to 1945 Zagreb was the centre of the Croatian Orthodox Church and Zagreb Cathedral became the seat of Patriarch Germogen.
After World War II, the Zagreb metropolitanate and other dioceses in the territory of Croatia were administered by auxiliary (vicarian) bishop Arsenije Bradvarević. He was succeeded by Damascus Grdanički, previously Bishop of Banat, and after his death in 1969, the metropolitanate was administered by the Bishop of Slavonia, Emilian Marinović.
At the regular session of the Holy Assembly of the Serbian Orthodox Church in 1977, the spiritual guidance of this metropolitanate was entrusted to vicarian bishop Jovan Pavlović of Lepavina, who was elected Metropolitan of Zagreb in 1982. The following year, the name of the eparchy was expanded into Eparchy of Zagreb and Ljubljana. On the proposal of the metropolit Jovan, the name of the eparchy was expanded once more in 1994 into "Metropolitanate of Zagreb-Ljubljana and all Italy". Jurisdiction over Serbian Orthodox churches in Italy, that was transferred to the metropolitanate in 1994, lasted until 2011.[6]
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