The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prizren and Prishtina is an ecclesiastical territory or

Diocese 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 associa ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

. It is centred in the city of Prizren. It was erected as an Apostolic Administration in 2000, after being split from the Diocese of Skopje and Prizren and elevated in rank of Diocese in 2018. First Apostolic Administrator of Prizren was titular bishop

Marko Sopi Marko Sopi (1938-2006) was an Albanian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Biography Marko Sopi was born on in Binač, Vitina, Kingdom of Yugoslavia (modern Kosovo) on February 6, 1938. From 1995 to 2006 he was the titular bishop of Celerina. F ...

Celerina Celerina/Schlarigna (German/Italian ''Celerina''; Romansh ) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. History Celerina/Schlarigna was first mentioned in 1313 as ''Schellarin'' and in 1320 as ''Celarina''. In ...

, who served from 2000 to 2006. He was succeeded by former bishop

Dodë Gjergji Dodë Gjergji (born 16 January 1963) is a Kosovan prelate of the Catholic Church. Since 2006, he serves as Apostolic Administrator of Prizern. In 2018, when the apostolic administration was elevated to the status of the diocese, he became the f ...

of Sapë, who served as Apostolic Administrator of Prizren and currently serves as the first diocesan bishop.

History

Modern ''Apostolic Administration of Prizren'' covers the approximate territory of the former

Roman Catholic Diocese of Prizren The Roman Catholic Diocese of Prizren and Prishtina is an ecclesiastical territory or Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Kosovo. It is centred in the city of Prizren. It was erected as an Apostolic Administration in 2000, after being split fr ...

that was a titular see known as ''Prisriana''. During the later period of Ottoman rule in 19th century there were several initiatives for organization of a regular diocese. In 1912, region of Prizren came under the rule of Kingdom of Serbia. In order to regulate status of Catholic Church, government of Serbia concluded official agreement (

concordat A concordat is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 st Edi ...

) with the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

on 24 June 1914. By the Second Article of Concordat, it was decided that Diocese of Skopje shall be created as a regular diocese for all newly annexed regions (including Prizren), and it was also agreed that it would be placed under jurisdiction of

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Belgrade The Catholic Archdiocese of Belgrade ( la, Archidioecesis Belogradensis; sh, Beogradska nadbiskupija; hu, Belgrádi főegyházmegye) is an archdiocese located in the city of Belgrade in Serbia. History In order to regulate status of local Cath ...

that was about to be created. Because of the breakout of

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, those provisions could not be fully implemented, and only after 1918 new arrangements were made. During the time of first

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

(1918-1941), there were some new initiatives towards the creation of a local diocese in Prizren. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the last titular bishop of ''Prisriana'' was appointed in 1942 (Ivan Romanoff), but he never came to Prizren. Only in 1969, the name of Prizren Diocese was joined with the name of the Skopje Diocese, thus creating Roman Catholic Diocese of Skopje and Prizren. In 2000, jurisdictions were split, and the portion in

became the Apostolic Administration of Prizren, while the Diocese of Skopje returned to its former name. On September 5, 2018, the Apostolic Administration was elevated in the rank of Diocese, but remained as an Immediately Subject to the

.Erezione della diocesi di Prizren-Prishtina e nomina del primo Vescovo
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Apostolic Administration of Prizren

{{authority control Catholic Church in Kosovo Culture in Prizren

History

See also

Notes

References

External links