Mato Vodopić

Mato Vodopić (13 December 1816 - 13 March 1893) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as bishop of Dubrovnik from 1882 until his death in 1893 and Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje Mrkan from 1882 until 1890. He wrote poems for some special occasions, and was a storyteller and collector of folk ballads. He remains the only native to serve as bishop of Dubrovnik since the abolishment of the Republic of Ragusa in 1808.[2]

The Most Reverend

Mato Vodopić
Bishop of Dubrovnik
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseDubrovnik
Appointed3 July 1882
Installed3 September 1882
Term ended13 March 1893
PredecessorIvan Zaffron
SuccessorJosip Grgur Marčelić
Other postsApostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan (1882–90)
Orders
Ordination22 November 1840
Consecration2 September 1882
by Serafino Vannutelli
Personal details
Born(1816-12-13)13 December 1816
Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia)
Died13 March 1893(1893-03-13) (aged 76)
Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary (modern-day Croatia)
NationalityCroat[1]
DenominationCatholic

Biography

Mato Vodopić's family was part of lower nobility in Republic of Ragusa, with lands in Pelješac peninsula where he comes from.

As a gymnasium student he wrote poems in Italian. He started writing poems in Croatian while in a seminary in Zadar. His poems were published in Matica Dalmatinska, Dubrovnik, Biser and Slovinac, however, they didn't have high artistic value.[3]

The Dubrovnik magazine published his tale titled Tužna Jelka (Sad Jelka) in which he described a hard life of sailors, where Jela is a mother of two sons, both of whom died while sailing. He also wrote another tale, called Na Doborskijem razvalinama (The wrecks of Dobor), where he writes about a misadventure of a Christian family and a convert to Islam. In this tale, he wrote how Bosnia's progress is tied to its unification with Croatia.[3]

His greatest literal work is Marija Konavoka, based on a real story he personally testified as a parson in Konavle, where he described life of the people of Konavle before the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary.[3]

After the Herzegovina uprising started in Herzegovina, where Christians rebelled against the Ottoman Empire, Vodopić wrote a poem titled Robinjica (Slave woman), about a girl being enslaved by Smail Agha Čengić, an Ottoman landlord.[4]

Politically, Vodopić supported the People's Party.[1]

Exemption of Trebinje-Mrkan

The Catholics of Trebinje-Mrkan became frustrated with the lack of material aid from the new authorities, as well as the inactivity of Vodopić as their administrator. Moreover, Bishop Paškal Buconjić of Mostar-Duvno systematically usurped northern and north-eastern parts of the Diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan for his own diocese.[5] Provicar of Trebinje-Mrkan Lazar Lazarević wrote to the Propaganda in Rome on 11 June 1887, requesting again the appointment of the new bishop and protection of Catholics from the new authorities.[5] In Sommer of the same year, Lazarević also wrote to the Austrian-Hungarian government in Sarajevo about Bishop Paškal's encroachment in Trebinje-Mrkan, however, his petition had no positive answer. Lazarević also warned Vodopić about his duties as Apostolic Administrator, but he didn't show much interest.[6]

Head of the Propaganda Cardinal Giovanni Simeoni asked the State Secretary Cardinal Mariano Rampolla to help with the improvement of the condition of Catholics in Trebinje-Mrkan. Cardinal Rampolla informed the Pope about the situation, who requested the new negotiations with the Austrian-Hungarian government. Cardinal Luigi Galimberti, the new Nuncio in Vienna, started the negotiations with Foreign Minister Count Gustav Kálnoky, and presented him Cardinal Rampolla's letter. Kálnoky in turn informed the Minister of Finances Béni Kállay about the situation, after which in June 1888, Kállay ordered an investigation about the Bishop Paškal's pretensions to Trebinje-Mrkan.[7]

Again, on 5 September 1888, the clergy of Trebinje-Mrkan asked Nuncio Galimberti for the new bishop and requested that Bishop Paškal respects the borders of Trebinje-Mrkan, as established in the Papal decree Ex hac augusta of 1881.[8] Finally, on 17 June 1889, the Austrian-Hungarian government in Sarajevo and the Joint Ministry of Finance presented their Proposal to Galimberti, in which they suggested that Bishop of Mostar-Duvno should administer Trebinje-Mrkan.[9] The main motive for such a proposal was not to dissatisfy the Eastern Orthodox population.[10] The Austrian-Hungarian government also requested that the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, even though just an apostolic administrator, should have a regular jurisdiction in Trebinje-Mrkan and that he could appoint the Franciscans to priestly duties.[11] Cardinals Simeoni and Rampolla agreed with the first proposal,[10] but rejected the latter two.[11] The Austrian-Hungarian government was informed about their decision on 23 September 1889.[10] The Propaganda ordered that the bishop of Mostar-Duvno administers Trebinje-Mrkan on 16 June 1890, a decision confirmed by the Pope on 8 July 1890. With the new decree, Bishop Paškal extended his jurisdiction over the entire Herzegovina.[12]

Notes
  1. Vučetić 1973, p. 49.
  2. Gugić 1979, p. 108.
  3. Šurmin 1896, p. 201.
  4. Šurmin 1896, pp. 201–202.
  5. Vrankić 2016, p. 130.
  6. Vrankić 2016, pp. 130–131.
  7. Vrankić 2016, p. 131.
  8. Vrankić 2016, p. 132.
  9. Vrankić 2016, pp. 132–133.
  10. Vrankić 2016, p. 133.
  11. Vrankić 2016, p. 134.
  12. Vrankić 2016, p. 135.

References

Books
  • Gugić, Ivo (1979). Dubrovnik: jedna vrata prema Zapadu [Dubrovnik: one door to the West] (in Croatian). Sarajevo: Vrelo života.
  • Šurmin, Đuro (1896). Povijest književnosti hrvatske i srpske [History of Croatian and Serbian literature] (in Croatian). Zagreb: Knjižara Lav Hartman.

Journals
  • Vučetić, Šime (1973). "Mato Vodopić" [Five centuries of the Croatian literature]. Pet stoljeća hrvatske književnosti (in Croatian). 35.
  • Vrankić, Petar (2016). "Izbori i imenovanja biskupa u Hercegovini u doba austro-ugarske vladavine (1878. - 1918.) na primjeru biskupa fra Paškala Buconjića" [Elections and appointments of bishops in Herzegovina during the Austrian-Hungarian rule (1878 - 1918) on the example of Bishop Fr. Paškal Buconjić]. Hercegovina (in Croatian). 2: 109–140.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Ivan Zaffron		 Bishop of Dubrovnik
1882–1893		 Succeeded by
Josip Grgur Marčelić
Preceded by
Ivan Zaffron		 Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan
1882–1890		 Succeeded by
Paškal Buconjić
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