The Archdiocese of Zadar (; ) is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical territory or

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

of the

Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

."Archdiocese of Zadar"
''GCatholic.org.'' Gabriel Chow. Retrieved February 29, 2016 The diocese was established in the 3rd century AD and was made an archdiocese by the

Pope Anastasius IV Pope Anastasius IV ( – 3 December 1154), born Corrado Demetri della Suburra, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 July 1153 to his death in 1154. He is the most recent pope to take the name "Anastasius" upon his ...

in 1154. Today, it is not part of any

ecclesiastical province An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consist ...

of Croatia, rather it is the only Croatian archdiocese directly subject to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

History

Zadar (modern

) has been a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

since AD 381 and, since 1146, an

. Adrian IV placed the archdiocese of Zara under the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Grado. Its succession of bishops numbers over eighty without noteworthy interruption. Bishop Sabinianus is mentioned in the "Register" of

Gregory the Great Pope Gregory I (; ; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great (; ), was the 64th Bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 until his death on 12 March 604. He is known for instituting the first recorded large-scale mission from Rom ...

. In one of his letters Pope John VIII names St. Donatus as patron of Jadera, Zadar's former name. Archaeologists find in Zadar many traces of ecclesiastical sculpture with German characteristics dating from the migration of the

Germanic tribes The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts ...

. Zadar was the capital of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

Dalmatia, but an example of

Carolingian architecture Carolingian architecture is the style of north European Pre-Romanesque architecture belonging to the period of the Carolingian Renaissance of the late 8th and 9th centuries, when the Carolingian dynasty dominated west European politics. It wa ...

is also found there, indicating that Zadar may once have belonged to the

Franks file:Frankish arms.JPG, Aristocratic Frankish burial items from the Merovingian dynasty The Franks ( or ; ; ) were originally a group of Germanic peoples who lived near the Rhine river, Rhine-river military border of Germania Inferior, which wa ...

and possibly explaining a visit of Bishop Donatus to

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

in Dietenhofen. Since Zadar belonged to

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, the bishops of Grado had exercised patriarchal jurisdiction over it. In 1276 Patriarch Ægidius summoned Archbishop John with his suffragans to the Council of Grado where they were, however, represented by deputies. Archbishop Nicholas III of Zadar was present at the synod convened by Cardinal Guido of Santa Cecilia at

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

in 1350. Twenty constitutions were published, chiefly against the civil life of the clergy and the power of the laity as used against the clergy and church property. Worthy of high respect was Ægidius of Viterbo who governed the archdiocese for two years. In the first session of the Fifth Lateran Council he said: "''Homines per sacra immutari fas est non sacra perhomines''" ("Man must be changed by what is holy, not what is holy by man"). He also addressed the following words to the warlike Julius II, who sought to increase the possessions of the Church: Archbishop Godeassi attended the Synod of Vienna in 1849. Archbishop Pietro Doimo Maupas attended the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

Bishops

Deaneries and parishes

Gallery

Zadar 2011 06.jpg, Church of St. Donatus and Archbishops palace (orange building) Kathedrale St. Anastasia.jpg, St. Anastasia Cathedral SVMarija04.jpg, Benedictine monastery of St. Mary Church of St. Simon in Zadar.jpg, St. Simeon's Church St Dominic's Church Zadar 02.jpg, St Dominic's Church Crkva Gospe od Zdravlja Zadar.JPG, Church of Our Lady of Health Samostan sv. Franje, Zadar -jug.jpg, Monastery of St. Francis Assisi (Zadar) St Andrew's and St Peter the Elder's Zadar.jpg, Church of St Andrew's and St Peter the Elder's Chapel of St Demetrius Zadar.jpg, Chapel of St Demetrius Zadar Seminary.jpg, Archdiocesan seminary Gospe Loretske church, Croatia.jpg, Church of Our Lady of Loreto in Arbanasi Zadar kostel sv. Chrysogona 2.jpg, Church of St. Grisogono Croatia, Nin, church.JPG, Church of the Holy Cross in Nin Church of St. Nicholas in Nin.JPG, Church of St. Nicholas in Nin

References

External links

* {{coord, 44.1159, N, 15.2245, E, source:wikidata, display=title

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...