Herzegovina Affair
Herzegovina Affair () or Herzegovina Case () refers to a conflict between the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina and the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno over the redistribution of parishes in the said diocese. The conflict between the Franciscans and the diocesan clergy started with the restoration of the regular church hierarchy in Bosnia and Herzegovina after its occupation by Austria-Hungary in 1881. The Herzegovina Case presents a problem in the relationship between the Herzegovinian clergy, as well as the Catholic faithful. History Bishop Paškal Buconjić In 1846, the Holy See established the Apostolic Vicariate of Herzegovina, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire and it was considered to be a mission area. The first vicars were all Franciscans, including Fr. Rafo Barišić, fr. Anđeo Kraljević and fr. Paškal Buconjić. Both Barišić and Kraljević requested from the Pope to introduce secular clergy in Herzegovina, which was finally approved after the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the region, and in 1881, with the papal bull Ex hac augusta, the Apostolic Vicariate was elevated to the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno. The Franciscans of Herzegovina were on bad terms with Bishop Kraljević, claiming he did not give them enough of the collected alms for the construction of the friary in Humac. The conflict between the bishop and the Franciscans reached its peak during Buconjić's tenure because Franciscans controlled all of the parishes in Herzegovina while the bishop, even though a Franciscan himself, wanted to have diocesan clergy at his disposal. An anonymous letter was sent to Emperor Franz Joseph claiming the bishop was giving donations sent to him by Austria-Hungary to the Ottomans and accusing him of being a turkophile. The Franciscan Custody barred itself from this letter. In February 1877, Kraljević asked the Propaganda to send an apostolic visitor to Herzegovina and accused Buconjić of neglecting the parishes and the Herzegovinian Franciscans of taking the payment for maintenance by force from the believers during the Easter Communion. The Congregation appointed Bishop Kazimir Forlani the apostolic visitor; he arrived in Mostar in February the next year. Forlani finished his report in May 1878; he advised the Bishop to act in agreement with the Franciscans, to record revenues and expenditures, and to help the construction of the friary in Humac. The question of the parishes remained unresolved. The main issue during Buconjić's episcopate diocese was the division of parishes between the diocesan clergy and the Franciscans, who tried to confirm their dominance in Herzegovina with Rome. Even though the papal bull Ex hac augusta ended the privileges the Franciscans enjoyed in their missionary work, they still wanted to retain all of the parishes in the diocese. The Franciscans were confident Buconjić, who himself was a Franciscan, would not disturb their possession of parishes. In December 1881, however, Custos Zovko wrote to the General of the Order about the parishes in Herzegovina. The General asked Zovko about the right of possession of those parishes, to which Zovko replied in February 1882 the Franciscans had established and controlled