Eparchy of Bačka

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Kovilj Monastery

The Eparchy of Bačka (Template:Langx) is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the Bačka region, Serbia. It is situated in north-western parts of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, and the seat of the eparchy is at Saint George's Cathedral in Novi Sad.

History

During the middle ages, old counties of Bács and Bodrog belonged to the Kingdom of Hungary, that had ambivalent attitudes towards the presence of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in its southern and eastern regions,Template:Sfn depending on political relations with the Byzantine Empire, and medieval Serbia. By the end of the 15th century, Serbian presence in those regions was gradually enlarged by continuous migrations that were caused by Ottoman invasion of Serbian lands.Template:Sfn

The Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Bačka was established in the 16th century, under the jurisdiction of the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć.Template:Sfn In the beginning, the seat of the bishop was in Segedin, the capital city of the Ottoman Sanjak of Segedin. Diocesan seat was later moved to various monasteries in Bačka proper, and was finally stabilized in Novi Sad in the beginning of the 18th century. By that time, the region of Bačka was liberated from Ottoman rule and incorporated into the Habsburg monarchy. Since 1708, the eparchy belonged to the Serbian Orthodox Metropolitanate of Krušedol (Karlovci), independent (autocephalous) after 1766 (it became the Patriarchate of Karlovci in 1848). In 1918, its territory was incorporated into the newly established Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and in 1920 the eparchy entered into the reunited Serbian Orthodox Church.Template:Sfn

Territory

The eparchy includes entire Serbian part of Bačka, but also has supreme authority over some territories in present-day Hungary, including counties Bács-Kiskun (Baja), Csongrád (Szeged) and Heves (Eger).

Bishops and metropolitans

• Filip, bishop
• Sava, bishop
• Makarije, bishop
• Simeon, bishop
• Georgije, metropolitan (1579)
• Mardarije, metropolitan (1609)
• Mihailo, metropolitan (1651)
• Georgije, bishop (1667)
• Jeftimije Drobnjak, bishop (1695-1708)
• Stevan Metohijac, bishop (1708-1709)
• Hristofor Dimitrijević-Mitrović, bishop (1710-1712)
• Grigorije Dimitrijević, bishop (1713-1717)
• Sofronije Tomašević, bishop (1718-1730)
• Visarion Pavlović, bishop (1731-1756)
• Mojsije Putnik, bishop (1757-1774)
• Arsenije Radivojević, bishop (1774-1781)
• Atanasije Živković, bishop (1781-1782)
• Josif Jovanović Šakabenta, bishop (1783-1786)
• Jovan Jovanović, bishop (1786-1805)
• Gedeon Petrović, bishop (1807-1832)
• Stefan Stanković, bishop (1834-1837)
• Georgije Hranislav, bishop (1839-1843)
• Platon Atanacković, bishop (1851-1867)
• German Anđelić, bishop (1874-1882)
• Vasilijan Petrović, bishop (1885-1891)
• German Opačić, bishop (1893-1899)
• Mitrofan Šević, bishop (1900-1918)
• Dr. Irinej Ćirić, bishop (1922-1955)
• Nikanor Iličić, bishop (1955-1986)
• Dr. Irinej Bulović, bishop (1990-current)

Monasteries belonging to the eparchy

• Kovilj Monastery in Novi Sad municipality. The monastery was reconstructed in 1705-1707. According to the legend, the monastery of Kovilj was founded by the first Serb archbishop Saint Sava in the 13th century.
• Bođani Monastery in Bač municipality. It was founded in 1478.
• Sombor Monastery in Sombor municipality. It was founded in 1928-1933.
• In the outset of the 18th century there was a Serb monastery in Bački Monoštor near Sombor.

See also

• List of eparchies of the Serbian Orthodox Church
• Eastern Orthodoxy in Serbia
• Religion in Serbia
• Religion in Vojvodina
• Bishop's Palace, Novi Sad