Mukachevo Bishop Appointed Exarch for Serbia and Montenegro
08.30.03 (RISU.org.ua) – Vatican-- On 27 August 2003, Pope John Paul II established an apostolic exarchate for the 22 thousand Greek Catholics in Serbia and Montenegro, appointing Bishop Djura Dzudzar as the first apostolic exarch in the area. For the last two and a half years, Bishop Dzudzar has been auxiliary bishop of the Mukachevo eparchy, in far southwestern Ukraine's Transcarpathia region.
Bishop Dzudzar was born in Djurdjevo (the former Yugoslavia). He was ordained as a priest in 1980 and ministered in the Krizevci eparchy in Croatia.
There are 17 Greek Catholic parishes in Serbia and Montenegro, served by
16 diocesan priests, two religious priests and 55 women religious.
RISU note:
In the former Yugoslavia, the pastoral care over all Greek Catholics was provided by the Krizevci eparchy, which included representatives of various ethnic groups, including ethnic Serbs in Croatia, Ruthenians, ethnic Ukrainians, Macedonians, and some Romanians. After Yugoslavia was divided into a number of independent states, the eparchial center remained in Croatia, which called for the establishment of independent jurisdictions in other states. First an apostolic visitature was created in Macedonia. Now an apostolic exarchate has been established in Serbia and Montenegro.
Sources:
www.zenit.org [
zenit.org] and
www.catholic-hierarchy.org [
catholic-hierarchy.org]
