Anton Mahnič, also spelled Antun Mahnić in Croatian orthography (14 September 1850 – 30 December 1920), was a

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 ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

n prelate 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 ...

and a philosopher who established and led the Croatian Catholic Movement. Mahnič served as the bishop of Krk from 1897 to his death in 1920.

Biography

Mahnič was born in Kobdilj near Štanjel in the Austrian

County of Gorizia and Gradisca The Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca (; ; ), historically sometimes shortened to and spelled "Goritz", was a crown land of the Habsburg dynasty within the Austrian Littoral on the Adriatic Sea, in what is now a multilingual border area of ...

(in today's

). He finished theological studies in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and then worked as a priest and a teacher in

Gorizia Gorizia (; ; , ; ; ) is a town and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, Region ...

. During this period, he became actively involved in the Slovene political life, criticising the liberal Catholic current within the Slovene national movement. In 1896, he became Bishop of

Krk Krk (; ; ; ; archaic German: ''Vegl'', ; ) is a Croatian island in the northern Adriatic Sea, located near Rijeka in the Bay of Kvarner and part of Primorje-Gorski Kotar county. Krk is tied with Cres as the largest Adriatic island, depending o ...

(

). In his bishopric he initiated many religious societies and activities, and started Catholic publishing, including a magazine for Christian philosophy called ''Hrvatska straža''. He founded Catholic student magazines and societies all over the

Austro-Hungarian Monarchy Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He wrote many articles and works in the theological, philosophical, esthetical and political area. Later Mahnić initiated a Pius society, with its weekly newspaper ''Jutro''. These groups of Catholic intellectuals, gathered around these papers, joined together in the Croatian Catholic movement) before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war, Mahnić was persecuted after the territory was annexed by Italy, and he went to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

, where he died. Mahnić's main goal was defending and promoting Catholic faith and its moral principles in Croatian public and social life, which were endangered by

liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used ...

and

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

. Also important issue for him was spiritual and intellectual education of the youth.

Sources

*Bozanić, Antun: ''Biskup Mahnić. Pastir i javni djelatnik u Hrvata'',

– Krk, 1991 *Krišto, Jure: ''Hrvatski katolički pokret (1903–1945)'', Zagreb, 2004, *Krišto, Jure: ''Prešućena povijest. Katolička Crkva u Hrvatskoj politici 1850–1918'', Zagreb, 1994, , *Sinjeri, Josip: "Biskup Antun Mahnić i Hrvatski katolički pokret", ''Riječki teološki časopis'',

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

, 15 (2007), 2 (30), 551–587 1850 births 1920 deaths Slovenian Roman Catholic bishops 20th-century Slovenian philosophers Slovenian emigrants to Croatia Conservatism in Slovenia Catholic philosophers 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Croatia 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Croatia Bishops of Krk Roman Catholic activists People from the Municipality of Komen People from Gorizia Slovenian Servants of God {{Slovenia-RC-bishop-stub

Biography

See also

Sources