Roman Catholic Diocese of Zrenjanin

The Diocese of Zrenjanin (Latin: Dioecesis Zrenjanensis, Serbian: Zrenjaninska biskupija / Зрењанинска бискупија, Hungarian: Nagybecskereki egyházmegye, Croatian: Zrenjaninska biskupija, German: Bistum Zrenjanin) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Serbia. It is subject to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belgrade. The Diocese is centered in the city of Zrenjanin.

Diocese of Zrenjanin Dioecesis Zrenianensis Епархија Зрењанин
Cathedral of Saint John of Nepomuk
Location
Country	Serbia
Ecclesiastical province	Belgrade
Metropolitan	Archdiocese of Belgrade
Statistics
Area	9,387 km2 (3,624 sq mi)
Population Total Catholics	(as of 2010) 552,809 64,110 (11.6%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Roman Rite
Established	10 February 1923 (As Apostolic Administration of Jugoslavenska Banat) 16 December 1986 (As Diocese of Zrenjanin)
Cathedral	Cathedral of St. John of Nepomuk, Zrenjanin
Current leadership
Pope	Leo XIV
Bishop elect	Mirko Štefković
Metropolitan Archbishop	Német László
Vicar General	József Mellár
Map
Map of organization of Catholic Church in Serbia   Belgrade Archbishopric - Green   Subotica Bishopric - Yellow   Zrenjanin Bishopric - Beige   Syrmia Bishopric - Brown   Apostolic Administration of Prizren - Violet
Website
catholic-zr.org.rs

Territory

The Diocese of Zrenjanin encompasses the Serbian part of the Banat region, which is mostly situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina (the small part of the area administratively belongs to the City of Belgrade).

The diocese's cathedral is the Cathedral of Saint John of Nepomuk in Zrenjanin, which was built in 1868.

The diocese is multi-ethnic and has members primarily from the sizable Hungarian and Croat communities, as well as Bulgarians, Czechs, Slovaks, and Germans.

History

Until the end of First World War, the territory of the present-day Diocese of Zrenjanin belonged to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Csanád. After the collapse of Austria-Hungary, region of Western Banat was incorporated into newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later known as Yugoslavia). In 1923, the Apostolic Administration of Yugoslav Banat was created. First apostolic administrator was Ivan Rafael Rodić. In 1924, he was appointed first Roman Catholic Archbishop of Belgrade, continuing to serve also as apostolic administrator of Yugoslav Banat. Until the end of Second World War, the largest number of Roman Catholics in the territory of Yugoslav Banat was of German ethnicity. In 1986, apostolic administration was reorganized into "Diocese of Zrenjanin" and placed under metropolitan jurisdiction of Roman Catholic Archbishop of Belgrade.

Administrators and bishops

Administrators

• Ivan Rafael Rodić (19 February 1923 – 28 November 1936)
• Josip Ujčić (28 November 1936 – 24 March 1964)
• Gabrijel Bukatko (24 March 1964 – 22 December 1971)
• Tamás Jung (22 December 1971 – 16 December 1986)

Bishops

• Tamás Jung (16 December 1986 – 7 January 1988)
• László Huzsvár (7 January 1988 – 30 June 2007)^[1]
• Ladislav Nemet (23 April 2008^[2] – 5 November 2022)^[3]
• Mirko Štefković (18 March 2024^[4] – )

See also

• Roman Catholic Church in Serbia
• Church of Saint Gerhard the Bishop and Martyr, Vršac