Archdiocese of Bar

The Archdiocese of Bar is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Montenegro. It is centred in the city of Bar.
It was erected as a diocese in the 9th century and elevated to an archdiocese in 1089. The Archbishopric was by the Pope's decree abolished some time after 1140, until it was restored by the Serbian medieval Nemanjić dynasty in 1199.The Archbishops regularly bore titles of "Primates of Serbia", implemented as a permanent part of the title by Archbishop Stephen Tegliatti in 1475.
The archdiocese's new cathedral is the Cathedral of [Saint Peter the Apostle |Cathedral of Saint Peter the Apostle] in Bar. Its old Cathedral of the [Immaculate Conception |Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception] is located near Stari Bar. Rrok Gjonlleshaj currently serves as archbishop in the archdiocese.
In 1923, Traboin, Tuzi, Grude, and Klezna were added to the Archbishopric from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Shkodër. In 1969, the territory of the municipalities of Plav, Gusinje, and Vojno Selo were added to the Archbishopric from the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Skopje.

History

In 1571 when Ottomans captured Antivari the Catholic Church in border area and Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar began to collapse and main reasons for this is emigration of indigenous peoples, but also immigration of new ethnic and religious element, brought by the Ottomans. Because of a lack of Catholic priests, entire parishes were converted to Orthodoxy.
The social arm of the diocese, the "Humanitarian Organisation Caritas of the Archdiocese of Bar" was registered as a charity in 2002. Today, it operates as a part of Caritas Montenegro.

Archbishops

Peter
Sergius
Elijah
John I
John II
Gufrid
Lawrence I
Gašpar Adam
Michael
Rudger, member of the

Cistercian order, writer
of the Chronicle of the Priest of Dioclea