Comparative analysis of the spatial organisation of the Catholic Church on the Croatian Adriatic coast. Changes after World War II and perspectives for its future reorganisation

This paper outlines the changes in the organisation of the Catholic Church in Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia after World War II. A detailed analysis of the circumstances that lead to the establishment of the Rijeka Diocese, Archdiocese and Metropolitan Archdiocese, ecclesiastical union of the Istrian region in Croatia, the abolition of the Zadar Metropolitan Archdiocese, the raising of the Split-Makarska Diocese to an Archdiocese, and the establishment of the Split Metropolitan Archdiocese. The principles upon which the Church reorganisation in the spatial sense are considered, and presents new insights, particularly for the Croatian dimension. The second part of the paper gives a comparative analysis of the spatial organisation of the Catholic Church on the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea, with other countries. Examples were selected based on compatibility of different factors, with consideration to the historical context of events and their causes. To that aim, specific examples of the church administration in France and Italy are given. Using these examples and documents of church archives and official records and documents of the Catholic Church, this paper gives a final overview of the possibilities for the reorganisation of the church administration on the Croatian Adriatic coast.