Mato Vodopić

Mato Vodopić (13 December 1816 – 13 March 1893) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of Dubrovnik from 1882 until his death in 1893 and Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje Mrkan from 1882 until 1890. He wrote poems for some special occasions, and was a storyteller and collector of folk ballads. He remains the only native to serve as the bishop of Dubrovnik since the abolishment of the Republic of Ragusa in 1808.

Biography

Vodopić was born in Dubrovnik, a year after Dubrovnik became a part of the Austrian Empire, as a member of noble Vodopić family. He was the son of Niko, a sea captain from Dubrovačko Primorje and Jela Maškarić, member of the noble family of nearby Ston.https://hrcak.srce.hr/file/12609 Vodopić also had a 10 years younger brother Niko. He attended a gymnasium, where classes were held in Italian language. While at the gymnasium, Vodopić met his lifetime friend Đuro Pulić. The two gave each other nicknames "Friday" and "Saturday" because Vodopić was born just one day before Pulić. Although their friendship continued, Vodopić and Pulić were separated because Vodopić had to repeat a year due to illness. As a gymnasium student he wrote poems in Italian.

After graduating from the gymnasium in 1833, Vodopić too, like his father, wanted to become a sailor. His family managed to arrange for him a job with captain Botta. While waiting for a job on the ship, Vodopić worked as the municipal scribe. Suddenly he expressed his intention to become a priest to his mother, who, after ensuring his intentions were serious, sent him to a seminary in Zadar. He started writing poems in Croatian while in a seminary in Zadar. His poems were published in ''Matica Dalmatinska'', ''Dubrovnik'', ''Biser'' and ''Slovinac'', however, they didn't have high artistic value.

At first, Vodopić studied two years of philosophy in Zadar, and after four years of theology. He was amongst the best students. Along with regular studies, Vodopić became occupied with the language, especially Old Slavic and Croatian. Since then, he wrote more and more in Croatian. After finishing his studies, Vodopić celebrated his first Mass on 25 November 1840 in Dubrovnik. His novitiate started two days after. At first, he served as the parish priest's assistant in Smokovljane, and a year later he was appointed a parish administrator in Ošlje. He stayed there for four years, until 1845. While in Ošlje, Vodopić developed an interest in hunting and botanics. He collected herbs and inquired about their folk names. Vodopić's collection of folk names eventually helped Bogoslav Šulek to compile his dictionary.

Vodopić left Ošlje for Konavle to serve as the parish priest in Grudi. At the same time, he served as a teacher in the local school. Vodopić remained in Grudi for twelve years, developing a strong attachment to this region. His interest in folklore and customs made him hang out with the faithful. Vodopić's novel ''Marija Konavoka'' (English: Marija of Konavle) was written with a strong local vocabulary of Konavle. His novel is among the first novels written in a dialect, rather than a standardised language. ''Marija Konavoka'', his greatest literal work, was based on a real story he personally testified as a parson in Konavle, where he described life of the people of Konavle before the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary.

In 1857, Vodopić was appointed a parish priest in Gruž, where he remained for twenty-two years. This period of his life was the most prolific. Politically, Vodopić supported the People's Party. In this period he became politically involved. Vodopić was a proponent of the political unification of Dalmatia and Bosnia with the rest of Croatia. For most of his life, Vodopić supported Yugoslavism, however, since the 1880s, he became less and less enthusiastic about the idea. His view of Serbs changed since then, mostly because of their cooperation with the Italian nationalist Autonomist Party in Dalmatia. Since 1862, Vodopić worked as a teacher of Croatian for the Municipality of Dubrovnik, and after the school reform of 1870, he taught Croatian in Gruž. While in Gruž, Vodopić wrote ''Tužna Jela'' (English: Tearful Jela) i ''Robinjica'' (English: The Slavewoman), with the latter novel being inspired by the Herzegovina Uprising.

The ''Dubrovnik'' magazine published ''Tužna Jelka'' in which he described a hard life of sailors, where Jela is a mother of two sons, both of whom died while sailing. He also wrote another tale, called ''Na Doborskijem razvalinama'' (The wrecks of Dobor), where he writes about a misadventure of a Christian family and a convert to Islam. In this tale, he wrote how Bosnia's progress is tied to its unification with Croatia. After the Herzegovina uprising started in Herzegovina, where Christians rebelled against the Ottoman Empire, Vodopić wrote a poem titled ''Robinjica'' (Slave woman), about a girl being enslaved by Smail Agha Čengić, an Ottoman landlord.

In 1879, Vodopić was appointed a canon of the Diocese of Dubrovnik. In 1882, the news circulated that he would be appointed the bishop of Dubrovnik. In September 1882, the news was confirmed. He is currently the only native of Dubrovnik to serve as the bishop of Dubrovnik since the collapse of the Republic of Ragusa.

In 1887, Vodopić got barbell on both of his eyes. He removed a barbell from his one eye and was able to read with the help of glasses. At the end of the 1880s, his health was ailing. He could barely walk and was carried in a carrier. Just before his death, Vodopić hardly bread. Before his death, Vodopić burned some of the works from his early youth, considering them unworthy. He died in Dubrovnik on 9 AM.

Episcopate

Vodopić was nominated as the bishop of Dubrovnik by Franz Joseph I of Austria on 19 March 1882 and was consecrated on 3 July 1882 in Dubrovnik.

Exemption of Trebinje-Mrkan

The Catholics of Trebinje-Mrkan became frustrated with the lack of material aid from the new authorities, as well as the inactivity of Vodopić as their administrator. Moreover, Bishop Paškal Buconjić of Mostar-Duvno systematically usurped northern and north-eastern parts of the Diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan for his own diocese. Provicar of Trebinje-Mrkan Lazar Lazarević wrote to the Propaganda in Rome on 11 June 1887, requesting again the appointment of the new bishop and protection of Catholics from the new authorities. In Sommer of the same year, Lazarević also wrote to the Austrian-Hungarian government in Sarajevo about Bishop Paškal's encroachment in Trebinje-Mrkan, however, his petition had no positive answer. Lazarević also warned Vodopić about his duties as Apostolic Administrator, but he didn't show much interest.

Head of the Propaganda Cardinal Giovanni Simeoni asked the State Secretary Cardinal Mariano Rampolla to help with the improvement of the condition of Catholics in Trebinje-Mrkan. Cardinal Rampolla informed the Pope about the situation, who requested the new negotiations with the Austrian-Hungarian government. Cardinal Luigi Galimberti, the new Nuncio in Vienna, started the negotiations with Foreign Minister Count Gustav Kálnoky, and presented him Cardinal Rampolla's letter. Kálnoky in turn informed the Minister of Finances Béni Kállay about the situation, after which in June 1888, Kállay ordered an investigation about the Bishop Paškal's pretensions to Trebinje-Mrkan.

Again, on 5 September 1888, the clergy of Trebinje-Mrkan asked Nuncio Galimberti for the new bishop and requested that Bishop Paškal respects the borders of Trebinje-Mrkan, as established in the Papal decree '' Ex hac augusta'' of 1881. Finally, on 17 June 1889, the Austrian-Hungarian government in Sarajevo and the Joint Ministry of Finance presented their Proposal to Galimberti, in which they suggested that Bishop of Mostar-Duvno should administer Trebinje-Mrkan. The main motive for such a proposal was not to dissatisfy the Eastern Orthodox population. The Austrian-Hungarian government also requested that the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, even though just an apostolic administrator, should have a regular jurisdiction in Trebinje-Mrkan and that he could appoint the Franciscans to priestly duties. Cardinals Simeoni and Rampolla agreed with the first proposal, but rejected the latter two. The Austrian-Hungarian government was informed about their decision on 23 September 1889. The Propaganda ordered that the bishop of Mostar-Duvno administers Trebinje-Mrkan on 16 June 1890, a decision confirmed by the Pope on 8 July 1890. With the new decree, Bishop Paškal extended his jurisdiction over the entire Herzegovina.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vodopic, Mato
1816 births
1893 deaths
People from Dubrovnik
Bishops of Dubrovnik
Apostolic Administrators of Trebinje-Mrkan
Bishops appointed by Pope Leo XIII
Roman Catholic bishops in the Kingdom of Dalmatia
19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Bosnia and Herzegovina