User talk:Zoupan/Catholicisation of Serbs

Early modern period
In 1439 in Florence, the Declaration of Union was adopted, according to which "the Roman Church firmly believes that nobody, who does not belong to the Catholic Church, not only unbelievers, but Judeans (Jews), nor heretics, nor schismatics, cannot enter the kingdom of heaven, but all will go to the eternal fire, which is saved for devils and their angels, if they not before death turn to that church".

During the Ottoman period, the Catholic Church had notable privileges; already since the 15th century Bosnian Franciscans were especially privileged, allowed to freely perform the propaganda of their religious doctrine and work on gaining adherents. The Council of Trent (1545–63) had the mission to gain, apart from "stray" Protestants, also the numerous "schismatics" in southeastern Europe. The Serbian Orthodox Patriarchate of Peć, whose northern jurisdiction stretched from Marča (near Zagreb) to Transylvania, became targeted, with the strongest pressure during the term of Pope Clement VIII (1592–1605). The pope used the difficult position of the Orthodox in the Ottoman Empire and conditioned Serbian Patriarch Jovan Kantul to Uniatize in return for support against the Turks. Pope Gregory XV (1621–23) established the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide) in 1622, which organized missionary work, including in the Balkans, where it resulted in terror against the Serbs, pressuring them into easier conversion into Catholicism. This was primarily carried out in the frontiers of the Republic of Venice until its fall in 1797, and also the Habsburg Monarchy until the Imperial decree dated 4 March 1849 which formally recognized equality for Eastern Orthodoxy with the other faiths in the Monarchy. Although there was pressure afterwards towards Uniatization or conversion, in all of the Military Frontier through deducing privileges, seizing monasteries, etc. through direct or indirect pressure, there were no violent methods until 1941.

Since the many migrations of Serbs into the Habsburg Monarchy beginning in the 16th century, there were efforts to Catholicize the community. The Orthodox Eparchy of Marča became the Catholic Eparchy of Križevci after waves of Uniatization in the 17th and 18th centuries. Notable individuals active in the Catholicisation of Serbs in the 17th century include Martin Dobrović, Benedikt Vinković, Petar Petretić, Rafael Levaković, Ivan Paskvali and Juraj Parčić. Catholic bishops Vinković and Petretić wrote numerous inaccurate texts meant to incite hatred against Serbs and Orthodox Christians, some of which included advice on how to Catholicize the Serbs.