Senj (Segna, Zengg), Diocese of

SENJ (Segna, Zengg), Diocese of. - In Croatia (Yugoslavia); united with the diocese of Modruš; it is a suffragan of Zagreb.

It has an area of 10,513 sq. km. with a population of 370,000 inhabitants, of whom 250,000 are Catholics; it has 142 parishes, served by 88 diocesan priests and 13 regulars; it has 1 seminary, 4 male religious communities and 6 female (Ann. Pont. 1952, p. 373).

It is not known precisely when the diocese of S. was instituted. Until about the middle of the 12th century the territory of the diocese (as well as that of Modruš) was under the jurisdiction of the bishop of Krk (Veglia). From then on there is an uninterrupted series of bishops of S. The diocese of Modruš or Corbavia (Krbava) was instituted in 1185 at the provincial Council of Split. The original see, until 1460, was at Corbavia (today Udbina) and later, because of the Turkish invasions, it was transferred to Modruš. From 1567 the bishops of S. also administered the diocese of Modruš until 1640, when Urban VIII united it to that of S. per aequalitatem iurium in the person of a single bishop, who therefore even today bears the title of "episcopus Segniensis et Modrussiensis seu Corbaviensis".

From 1461 to 1534 Otočac too, a city in the territory of the diocese of S., was the seat of its own diocese. From 1924 the apostolic administration of Kastav (previously part of the diocese of Trieste) was entrusted to the bishop of S. From 1787 until 1925 the city of Rijeka (v.) also formed part of the diocese of Modruš; in 1952 the Holy See entrusted a part of the diocese of Rijeka and the city itself to the bishop of S. Until 1640 the bishops of S. and Modruš were suffragans of the archbishop of Split; then until 1852 of that of Esztergom, and afterwards of that of Zagreb. Among the bishops special mention is due to the bishop of Modruš Simeon Kožičić (1500-36), a learned orator at the Fifth Lateran Council (1512), and to the heroic Antonio de Dominis, who together with his canons perished by Turkish hands in 1596 at the siege of Klis. The city of S., seat of the diocese, was a nest of the Uskoks, famous for their centuries-long struggle against the Turks and later against the Republic of Venice. At S. moreover the first Croatian printing press was opened (1494). Throughout the whole territory of these dioceses Mass is celebrated in the Roman rite, but in the Old Slavonic language (v. GLAGOLITIC, SCRIPT). This use was confirmed by Innocent IV in 1248 in a letter to the bishop of S., Philip, and later by other popes. During the repeated invasions and the Turkish domination (16th and 17th centuries) Orthodox Christians, led by the Turks, came and settled in these dioceses in considerable numbers. Attempts at union, especially under the government of bishop Benzoni (1730-45), had no lasting success.

From 1806 to 1919 and then from 1934 to 1940 there was a major seminary at S. Today the clerics attend the major seminary of Rijeka. Compared with the pre-war situation (1941) the number of priests is more than halved, the religious women can no longer carry out their apostolate in the various institutions, some parishes no longer exist and the number of the faithful too, in the wake of the horrors of war, has noticeably diminished.

Giuseppe Burić