List of Roman Catholic bishops of Mostar-Duvno

Bishop's Ordinariate, located in Mostar, is the seat of Bishop of Mostar-Duvno

The Bishop of Mostar-Duvno is the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, who is responsible for looking after its spiritual and administrative needs. The Diocese of Mostar-Duvno is part of the ecclesiastical province of Vrhbosna and thus is a suffragan of that archdiocese.^[1] Since 1890, the bishops of Mostar-Duvno also serve as apostolic administrators of the Diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan.^[2] The current bishop is Petar Palić, who serves as the diocese's sixth ordinary since 2020.

During the Ottoman rule, the Holy See established the Apostolic Vicariate of Herzegovina in 1846.^[3] With the Austrian-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, Pope Leo XIII restored the regular church hierarchy there with the papal bull Ex hac augusta on 5 July 1881, thus establishing the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno.^[4] Its first ordinary was the last Apostolic Vicar of Herzegovina Paškal Buconjić.^[5]

Six men have been Bishop of Mostar-Duvno; the first two bishops were Franciscan friars – Paškal Buconjić, who served 29 years, from 1881 to 1910^[6] and Alojzije Mišić, who served for 30 years, from 1912 to 1942.^[7] The first secular priest to be appointed bishop was Petar Čule who had the longest tenure of 38 years, serving from 1942 to 1980.^[8] His successor Pavao Žanić reigned for 13 years, from 1980 to 1993,^[9] marking the shortest episcopacy. His successor Ratko Perić held the episcopal office for 27 years, from 1993 to 2020, when he was succeeded by Petar Palić.^[10]

List of ordinaries[]

Bishops of Mostar-Duvno

No.	Bishop		Term	Appointor	Notes	References
1		Paškal Buconjić	18 November 1881 – 8 December 1910	Pope Leo XIII	Franciscan. Chaplain (1871–73) and parson (1873–1874) in Drinovci; Custos of the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina (1874–79); guardian of the Franciscan monastery in Humac, Ljubuški (1879–81). Serving as Apostolic Vicar of Herzegovina (1880–81), he was also Titular Bishop of Magydus (1880–81). During his episcopate, the Apostolic Vicariate of Herzegovina was abolished and on its place, the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno was established, with him as the first bishop. Serving as Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, he was also Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan (1890–10).	[6]
2		Alojzije Mišić	29 April 1912 – 26 March 1942	Pope Pius X	Franciscan. Chaplain (1882–84) in Banja Luka; Secretary of the Bishop of Banja Luka (1884–91); guardian of the Franciscan monastery and parson in Petrićevac (1891–94); parson in Bihać (1894–03); guardian and parson in Petrićevac (1903—1907); Provincial of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia (1909–1912). Serving as Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, he was also Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan (1912–42). He served as bishop during the World War I and the first years of the World War II.	[7]
3		Petar Čule	15 April 1942 – 14 September 1980	Pope Pius XII	Archivist in the Episcopal Ordinariate (1926–1942) and secretary to the Bishop of Mostar-Duvno (1937–42). Serving as Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, he was also Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan (1942–80). He served as bishop during the World War II and under the communist regime in Yugoslavia. He constructed the Mostar cathedral. After leaving the office, he was appointed a titular bishop of Giulfi.	[8][11]
4		Pavao Žanić	14 September 1980 – 24 July 1993	Pope John Paul II	Parson in Šolta (1941–52), Rogotin (1952–59) and the Split Cathedral (1959–69); Canon of the Archdiocese of Split-Makarska (1959–65); Provost of the Archdiocese of Split-Makarska (1965–1970); Bishop Coadjutor of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno (1970–1980). Serving as Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, he was also Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan (1980–93) and Dubrovnik (1988–90). He served as a bishop during the alleged Marian apparitions in Medjugorje and during the first years of the Bosnian War and the democratic transition.	[9]
5		Ratko Perić	24 July 1993 – 11 July 2020	Pope John Paul II	Parson in Trebinje (1971–74); Rector of the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome (1979–1992); Bishop Coadjutor of Mostar-Duvno (1992–93). Serving as Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, he was also Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan (1993–20). He served as a bishop during the Bosnian War.	[12]
6		Petar II Palić	11 July 2020 – Incumbent	Pope Francis	Secretary to the Bishop of Dubrovnik (1995–05); parson in Dobl (2008–09); pastoral vicar (2009–11) and general vicar (2011–17) of the Bishop of Dubrovnik; secretary-general of the Episcopal Conference of Croatia (2017–2020); Bishop of Hvar-Brač-Vis (2018–20). Serving as Bishop of Mostar-Duvno, he is also Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan (2020–present).	[10]

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