Mate Garković (12 September 1882 - 26 May 1968) was the

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 ...

archbishop of the Archdiocese of Zadar,

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 ...

Life

Garković was born on 12 September 1882 in Veli Rat on the island of

Dugi Otok Dugi Otok (; Croatian for "Long Island") is part of Croatia and the seventh largest island in the Adriatic Sea. It is located off the Dalmatian coast, west of Zadar. It is the largest and westernmost of the Zadarian Islands, and derives its nam ...

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 ...

, then

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. Ordained as a Roman Catholic priest on 28 July 1907, he was firstly pedagogue in the ''Zmajević'' minor seminary in Zadar where he stayed until 1914. In 1914, he was appointed parish priest of

Preko Preko (Italian: Oltre; lit. "Across") is a village and a municipality in Zadar County, Croatia. It is situated, as the name suggests, opposite of Zadar, on the island of Ugljan, in northern Dalmatia. Its old centre consists of typical Dalmatian ...

and dean of the Ugljan Deanery. When the Italians occupied Dalmatia, Garković was arrested and imprisoned for six months in Sestrunj. Then returned to Preko where he remained until 1925. Next 20 years, he has worked as a professor of

pastoral theology Pastoral theology is the branch of practical theology concerned with the application of the study of religion in the context of regular church ministry. This approach to theology seeks to give practical expression to theology. Normally viewed as ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

. Garković was appointed Apostolic Administrator of

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 ...

on 22 February 1952. He was consecrated as bishop by Miho Pušić, archbishop of

Hvar Hvar (; Chakavian: ''Hvor'' or ''For''; ; ; ) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, located off the Dalmatian coast, lying between the islands of Brač, Vis (island), Vis and Korčula. Approximately long, with a high east–west ridge of M ...

on 30 March 1952. Garković was appointed the archbishop of Zadar on 24 December 1960. Garković died on 26 May 1968, aged 85 in Zadar. He was buried in the

Cathedral of St. Anastasia The Cathedral of St. Anastasia () is the Roman Catholic cathedral of Zadar, Croatia, seat of the Archdiocese of Zadar, and the largest church in all of Dalmatia (the coastal region of Croatia). The church's origins date back to a Christian basi ...

, Zadar.

Notes

Zadar 1882 births 1968 deaths Archbishops of Zadar Dugi Otok Roman Catholic archbishops in Yugoslavia {{Croatia-RC-archbishop-stub