Pavao Dragičević (1694 – 14 February 1773) was a

Bosnian Franciscan Franciscan Province of Bosna Srebrena (also ''Bosna Argentina''; officially la, Provincia OFM Exaltationis S. Crucis - Bosna Argentina) is a province of the Franciscan order of the Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their headquarters ...

friar and bishop. Dragičević was born in Tješilo, a village near Fojnica in

Ottoman Bosnia The Ottoman Empire era of rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina (first as a ''sanjak'', then as an ''eyalet'') and Herzegovina (also as a ''sanjak'', then ''eyalet'') lasted from 1463/1482 to 1878 ''de facto'', and until 1908 ''de jure''. Ottoman ...

, and studied in present-day Italy. After the death of the first Bosnian

apostolic vicar Apostolic may refer to: The Apostles An Apostle meaning one sent on a mission: *The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, or something related to them, such as the Church of the Holy Apostles *Apostolic succession, the doctrine connecting the Christian Chur ...

, Mato Delivić, Dragičević was nominated to the post by Vicko Zmajević,

Archbishop of Zadar The Archdiocese of Zadar ( hr, Zadarska nadbiskupija; la, Archidioecesis Iadrensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic church in Croatia.Pope Benedict XIV Pope Benedict XIV ( la, Benedictus XIV; it, Benedetto XIV; 31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), born Prospero Lorenzo Lambertini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 17 August 1740 to his death in May 1758. Pope Be ...

approved the nomination on 14 November 1740. He was appointed bishop of

Duvno Tomislavgrad (), also known by its former name Duvno (), is a town and municipality located in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It mainly covers an area of the historical and geographica ...

on 15 December and consecrated by Zmajević on 29 June 1741. Early in his vicariate, in 1741–1743, Dragičević made an extensive

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of Catholic households in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which he sent to the Archbishop of Zadar. The census records, for which he is best known, have survived and present a valuable insight into 18th-century demographics of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1752, Bishop Dragičević requested that the prophet

Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My El (deity), God is Yahweh/YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic language, Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) w ...

replace

George of Lydda Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a sol ...

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of "Bosnian Kingdom". The reason for his plea to 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 ...

is not clear. He may have believed Elijah to be more suitable because of his importance to all three main religious groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina –

Catholics 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 ...

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

and Orthodox Christians. The Pope is said to have approved Dragičević's request with the remark that a wild nation deserved a wild patron. Neither the Bishop's letter nor the Pope's response have been made public by the Vatican Secret Archives. Bishop Dragičević's vicariate was marked with political instability in

Bosnia Eyalet The Eyalet of Bosnia ( ota, ایالت بوسنه ,Eyālet-i Bōsnâ; By Gábor Ágoston, Bruce Alan Masters ; sh, Bosanski pašaluk), was an eyalet (administrative division, also known as a ''beylerbeylik'') of the Ottoman Empire, mostly based o ...

. Since the Ottomans victory over the invading

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

at the Battle of Banja Luka in 1737, Bosnian Muslims were becoming considerably less tolerant towards the Christians, but Dragičević was even more threatened by the ambitious

Patriarch of Constantinople The ecumenical patriarch ( el, Οἰκουμενικός Πατριάρχης, translit=Oikoumenikós Patriárchēs) is the archbishop of Constantinople (Istanbul), New Rome and '' primus inter pares'' (first among equals) among the heads of th ...

and Bosnian Orthodox clergy, who sought to expand their jurisdiction over the Catholics. In 1743, Dragičević was imprisoned in Fojnica, and his life was often in peril. He thus requested to be relieved of his duties in 1766, which was granted on 30 June. Succeeded by Marijan Bogdanović, Dragičević retired to the

Franciscan monastery in Fojnica Franciscan monastery of the Holy Spirit is a Bosnian Franciscan monastery in Fojnica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. History It was founded in 1668 and it includes a library of ca. 12,500 volumes, including 13 ''incunabula'' and 156 works written in ...

. Despite illness, he was forced to resume administration of the vicariate between Bogdanović's death in 1772 and the appointment of his successor. Dragičević died on 14 February 1773 and was buried in the Franciscan church in Fojnica.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dragicevic, Pavao 1694 births 1793 deaths People from Fojnica Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina Franciscans of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia Bishops of Duvno Apostolic vicars Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XIV 18th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Ottoman Empire Bosnia and Herzegovina Roman Catholic bishops