The Greek Catholic Church in Croatia and Serbia originated from the Union of
Marča in 1611. The Greek Catholic Church in Croatia has existed since the 17th century and was created by
Christians of the
Greek-Slavic rite who fled before the
Turks from
Bosnia and
Slavonia and moved to the area of the Military Frontier (Vojna krajina) and the western parts of Croatia. The seat of the Greek Catholic Church in Croatia has been in
Križevci since 1777. In May 1836, the first
Ruthenian Greek Catholic parish in the territory of today's Croatia was founded in
Petrovci. Until 2001, the
Greek Catholic Eparchy of Križevci had full jurisdiction over all
Eastern Catholics of the
Byzantine Rite throughout the entire territory of former
Yugoslavia, including all of its successor states:
Croatia,
Slovenia,
Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Serbia,
Montenegro and
North Macedonia. During that time, it mostly gathered its faithful among the
Croats in central and eastern Croatia, among the
Pannonian Rusyns and
Ukrainians in eastern Croatia, northern Bosnia and northern
Serbia and among
Macedonians in
North Macedonia. After the formation of independent successor states from what had been
Yugoslavia, the process of administrative reorganization was initiated. In 2001, a separate Greek Catholic
Apostolic Exarchate of Macedonia was formed for Greek Catholics in
North Macedonia. It was fully separated from the Eparchy of Križevci and proclaimed as directly subject only to the Holy See. In 2003, a new
apostolic exarchate was created for Greek Catholics in Serbia and Montenegro, the
Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro. Its first exarch
Đura Džudžar (Ђура Џуџар) was appointed in 2003, with residence in
Ruski Krstur. This exarchate remained in association with the Eparchy of Križevci. After those changes, the jurisdiction of the Eparchy of Križevci was confined to Croatia, Slovenia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. In 2013, all Catholics of Byzantine Rite in Montenegro were entrusted to the local Latin bishops, so the jurisdiction of
Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia and Montenegro was reduced to
Serbia only. The Apostolic Exarchate of Serbia was elevated to the
Greek Catholic Eparchy of Ruski Krstur in December 2018.
Current hierarchy of the Church The present Greek Catholic Church of Croatia and Serbia episcopate (3 hierarchs as per 17 October 2020) is as follows: Eparchial Bishops: •
Milan Stipić, Bishop of Križevci (since 2020) •
Đura Džudžar, Bishop of Saint Nikola in Ruski Krstur (since 2018) Emeritus Hierarch: •
Nikola Kekić, Bishop emeritus of Križevci (since 2019) ==Liturgy and extent==