The Eparchy of Banja Luka (Serbian: Епархија бањалучка) is an eparchy (diocese) of the Serbian Orthodox Church with its seat in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It has jurisdiction over the north-western regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Eparchy of Banja Luka
Episcopal Residence in Banja Luka
Location
TerritoryNorth-western parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina
HeadquartersBanja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Information
DenominationEastern Orthodox
Sui iuris churchSerbian Orthodox Church
Established1900
LanguageChurch Slavonic
Serbian
Current leadership
BishopJefrem Milutinović
Map
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Banja Luka
Liplje Monastery in Teslić

History

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Until 1900, territory of this eparchy belonged to the Eastern Orthodox Metropolitanate of Dabar and Bosnia, which in turn was under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Upon the request of the Eastern Orthodox Serbs of this region, new Eparchy of Banja Luka was created in that year,[1] with seat in the city of Banja Luka. Bishop of Banja Luka was granted the honorary title of Metropolitan, as was the custom in Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.[2]

In 1918, all Orthodox bishops in Bosnia and Herzegovina reached a unanimous decision to join with other Serbian ecclesiastical provinces into united Serbian Orthodox Church. Arrangements with the Ecumenical Patriarchate were made, and the canonical process of unification was completed in 1920.[3] Since then, Eparchy of Banja Luka has been part of the Serbian Orthodox Church.

Heads

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Picture Name Time
Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Banja Luka
Evgenije Letica 1901-1907
  Vasilije Popović 1908–1938
  Platon Jovanović 1940–1941
Vasilije Kostić 1947—1961
Andrej Frušić 1961—1980
  Jefrem Milutinović 1980—present

Monasteries

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Ćirković 2004, p. 231.
  2. ^ Kašić 1965, pp. 44.
  3. ^ Kiminas 2009, pp. 22, 28.

Bibliography

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  • Kašić, Dušan, ed. (1965). Serbian Orthodox Church: Its past and present. Vol. 1. Belgrade: Serbian Orthodox Church.
  • Вуковић, Сава (1996). Српски јерарси од деветог до двадесетог века (Serbian Hierarchs from the 9th to the 20th Century). Евро, Унирекс, Каленић.
  • Bataković, Dušan T. (1996). The Serbs of Bosnia & Herzegovina: History and Politics. Dialogue Association. ISBN 9782911527104.
  • Mileusnić, Slobodan (1997). Spiritual Genocide: A survey of destroyed, damaged and desecrated churches, monasteries and other church buildings during the war 1991-1995 (1997). Belgrade: Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Church.
  • Radić, Radmila (1998). "Serbian Orthodox Church and the War in Bosnia and Herzegovina". Religion and the War in Bosnia. Atlanta: Scholars Press. pp. 160–182. ISBN 9780788504280.
  • Ćirković, Sima (2004). The Serbs. Malden: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 9781405142915.
  • Kiminas, Demetrius (2009). The Ecumenical Patriarchate: A History of Its Metropolitanates with Annotated Hierarch Catalogs. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434458766.
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