Alojzije Mišić OFM (10 November 1859 – 26 March 1942) was a Bosnian Croat Franciscan and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Mostar-Duvno and the apostolic administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan from 1912 until his death in 1942.

Mišić was born in Bosanska Gradiška, at the time part of the Bosnia Eyalet of the Ottoman Empire. After finishing elementary school, he joined the Franciscan seminary in Ivanjska in 1870, where he remained until joining the novitiate at the Franciscan friary in Fojnica in 1874. He then studied philosophy at the Franciscan friary in Guča Gora from 1875 to 1878, when he was sent to Esztergom, Hungary for education. Mišić was ordained a priest in 1882 when he returned to Bosnia and Herzegovina, now under Austrian-Hungarian occupation. After returning to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mišić was at first a religious teacher in Sarajevo. In 1884, he was named a secretary of the bishop of Banja Luka Marijan Marković and a general vicar of his diocese. Mišić became the guardian of the Franciscan friary in Petrićevac near Banja Luka in 1891 and remained there until he was appointed the parish priest in Bihać in 1894. While in Bihać, Mišić was an active cultural worker. In 1904, he was appointed again the guardian of the Franciscan friary in Petrićevac, and in 1907, he became the president of the Franciscan residence in Visoko. In 1909, Mišić was elected to become the provincial of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia for a term of three years.

The death of the bishop of Mostar-Duvno and the apostolic administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan Paškal Buconjić in 1910 led to a competition for his succession. The Church hierarchy represented by the archbishop of Vrhbosna Josip Stadler and the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina had their candidates, while Mišić gained the support from the Austrian-Hungarian government. With the help from the Austrian-Hungarian diplomacy and bishop Marković, Mišić gained the approval from the Holy See and was appointed Buconjić's successor on 29 April 1912. He was installed as bishop on 14 July 1912. The Herzegovinian Franciscans were displeased with his appointment, as they didn't get a successor from their ranks. Mišić served the two dioceses during the hardships of World War I, which in the end led to Bosnia and Herzegovina from being part of Austria-Hungary to becoming a part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (from 1929 Kingdom of Yugoslavia). The Franciscans used their power in the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno to secure their dominance. The Franciscans, who by the papal Decisia of 1899 had lost the care of over half of the parishes but still made up the vast majority of the clergy, wanted to preserve the dominance of their Province. They managed to influence Mišić not to raise the secular clergy to remain in small numbers, and finally, in 1923, with mediation from Mišić, they managed to get a rescript from the Holy See that, although temporarily, returned most of the parishes to their care. The Franciscans sought to ignore this temporality and cement the rescript as permanent. Although in the 1940s, it became clear to the Holy See that the rescript had been obtained falsely and fraudulently, it remained in force until 1965. Mišić and the Franciscans hid this action from the secular clergy until 1937.

In 1941, during World War II, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia collapsed due to the Axis invasion. Mišić helped to reduce the violence in Herzegovina, mediating between the warring parties. He greeted the establishment of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH), a German and Italian puppet state, in April 1941, but became wary of its state-sponsored violence against the minorities, mostly Serbs, Jews and Roma. Mišić repeatedly warned against the persecution in his sermons and letters. He died at his working table in March 1942.

Alojzije Mišić was born to Mate and Mara (née Križanović) in Gradiška in Bosnia Eyalet of Ottoman Empire and was christened as Stjepan.^[1][2][3] His family originated from Herzegovina.^[4] As a child, he was nicknamed Stipo or Stipica.^[3] Mišić attended elementary school in his hometown from 1866 until 1870.^[2][3] His parents intended to educate Mišić well and were helped in this effort by the local parish priest, fiar Marko Dulibić, who advised them to send Stjepan to a Franciscan seminary.^[1] On 18 June 1870 he joined the Franciscan Province of Bosnia and entered the Franciscan seminary in Ivanjska, which he attended from 1870 until 1874.^[2][3][4] Mišić continued his education of the Franciscan friary in Fojnica. On 21 September 1874, Mišić entered the novitiate and changed his name to Alojzije.^[1][3] Mišić studied philosophy at the Franciscan friary in Guča Gora from 1875 until 1878, where on 15 November 1875, he took temporary vows.^[1][3] There he finished studies with excellent success.^[5] He was sent by the Province to study theology at the central school of theology in Ostrogon in Hungary, where he studied from 1878 until 1882.^[2][6] While studying in Hungary, he took solemn vows on 14 October 1880 and was ordained a priest on 7 July 1882 by Cardinal János Simor.^[1][2][6] He served the first mass on 15 August 1882.^[4]

In the last years of his life, the bishop of Mostar-Duvno Paškal Buconjić was often sickly.^[16] Even though the new episcopal residence was erected, Buconjoć refused to move and lived in the old residence in Vukodol. His advisor, friar Radoslav Glavaš, the bishop's secretary,^[17] used Buconjić's weak condition to remain in power and kept him uninformed and thus dependent.^[18] Glavaš directed the financial resources of the diocese to the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina^[19] and no decisive steps could be expected in the dioceses. This was noticed by the Archbishop of Sarajevo Josip Stadler, who, to improve the situation in the dioceses, asked Rome to appoint his auxiliary bishop Ivan Šarić as Bishop Coadjutor of Mostar-Duvno with the right of succession.^[18]

The new Joint Finance Minister Stephan Burián von Rajecz, a Hungarian nationalist, did not support the appointment of clergy that were not close to Hungary and thus disapproved of Šarić's appointment. The authorities supported the Franciscans and Šarić undiplomatically explained to the government in Vienna he should be appointed because there were no good candidates among the Herzegovinian Franciscans, Burián ordered a candidate for Buconjić's replacement be found among the Bosnian Franciscans. Influential members of the Austrian-Hungarian government in Sarajevo concluded Mišić, as a former Hungarian student and a person of trust of the pro-Hungarian members of the government in Sarajevo, should be the new bishop in Mostar.^[20] On 19 February 1910, the Sarajevo government proposed Mišić for the post of Bishop Coadjutor in Mostar but the government in Vienna postponed the decision for a few months due to the preparations for the imperial visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina.^[21]

Buconjić saw the proposals for the bishop coadjutor as his dismissal and staunchly opposed them. Buconjić's stance so annoyed the elder Herzegovinian Franciscans that the new Provincial Luka Begić proposed himself as the bishop coadjutor during Emperor Franz Joseph's stay in Mostar on 3 June 1910.^[22] Buconjić, learning about the intentions of the governments in Sarajevo and Vienna, and Begić's proposal to the emperor, wrote to Pope Pius X and proposed Frano Lulić, a Dalmatian Franciscan; and two Herzegovinian Franciscans Špiro Špirić and David Nevistić, as candidates for his successor.^[22] Buconjić became disappointed with the Herzegovinian Franciscans, who saw his first choice, a Dalmatian Lulić, as an insult.^[23] After being warned only the emperor had the right of appointment and the Pope of confirmation, Buconjić proposed the same candidates to Franz Joseph and asked him for the appointment of the bishop coadjutor.^[24]

The government in Sarajevo considered Lulić to be unfit because he was living in Rome and, as a Dalmatian, would not handle a Herzegovinian diocese. The Austrian-Hungarian authorities were repulsed by anyone from Rome who did not adopt the monarchy's liberal policies of Josephinism. The government in Sarajevo considered Mišić to be more qualified than the other two candidates.^[25] The government in Vienna informed Rome about its intention to name Mišić as the bishop coadjutor but Rome was balanced between the suggestions of the Austrian-Hungarian authorities and Buconjić and opted to wait until Buconjić's death to resolve the issue.^[19]

Buconjić died in Mostar on 8 December 1910 and was buried in the city's Church of Saint Peter and Paul.^[19] As requested by the canon law, on 19 December 1910, the Metropolitan Archbishop Stadler named Lazar Lazarević administrator in spiritual matters of the two Herzegovinian dioceses. The material care of the dioceses was given to Glavaš, who used his position to enrich the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina further.^[17] He informed the government in Vienna about his appointments and proposed Ivan Šarić, Tomo Igrc and Ivan Dujmušić as candidates for the new bishop in Mostar, noting he also considered Herzegovinian Franciscans but in his conscientiousness could not propose any of them.^[26] His proposals were quickly dismissed because the Austrian-Hungarian authorities preferred Franciscans over diocesan clergy and wanted a Franciscan to be the new bishop.^[27]

Even though Rome supported Buconjić's first choice, Lulić, the Austrian-Hungarian authorities did not consider Lulić a serious candidate after his death. Rome did not support Vienna's choice of Mišić because he conflicted with Archbishop Stadler and started to seek its candidates.^[28] After the friction about the candidates for bishop in Mostar, the Austrian-Hungarian authorities officially proposed Mišić to Rome for the post for the second time on 5 January 1912.^[29] The pope accepted the proposal, so Burián asked the emperor to appoint Mišić, which the emperor did on 14 February.^[30][1] On 5 March 1912, the Austrian-Hungarian Minister of Finances Leon Biliński officially informed Mišić about the appointment.^[1] The pope proclaimed Mišić the new bishop on 29 April 1912.^[31][1] On 11 June 1912, Mišić left for Rome for consecration.^[32]

Mišić was consecrated at the Basilica of Saint Anthony in Rome on 18 June 1912 by Franciscan Cardinal Diomede Falconio^[8][33][34] with other two Franciscan bishops serving as co-consecrators.^[32] He chose Caritate et amore omnia vincuntur (Charity and love win over everything) as his motto.^[8][35] Mišić came to Rome accompanied by other Bosnian Franciscan Josip Andrić and Herzegovinian Franciscan Ambrozije Miletić,^[33] who represented the Herzegovinian Franciscans.^[32][34] General of the Franciscan Order Pacifico Monza and Austrian-Hungarian ambassador to Rome Alois Schönburg-Hartenstein, among others, were also present at the consecration.^[33] After his consecration, Mišić made several visits in Rome and was received by the Pope on 20 June.^[33][32]

While at the Pope's audience, Mišić's great advocate, Bishop Marković of Banja Luka, died. To prevent his opponent, Archbishop Stadler, from appointing his candidate Petar Pajić as the administrator of the Diocese of Banja Luka, Mišić lobbied and managed with the help of the General of the Franciscan Order to get the appointment of his fellow Franciscan Jozo Garić as the administrator in spiritual matters.^[36]

After visiting the Pope, Mišić left Rome on 21 June and arrived in Vienna on 25 June to give an oath of allegiance to Emperor Franz Joseph, as accustomed in Austria-Hungary.^[32][37] The next day he arrived in Sarajevo.^[36] On 5 July 1912, Mišić informed the administrator of the two Herzegovinian dioceses Lazar Lazarević that he would like his instalment to take place on 14 July, and made his arrival known publicly on 5 July.^[32] Mišić was received coldly by the Herzegovinian Franciscans. Many high-ranking Herzegovinian Franciscans ignored his instalment ceremony, including the administrator in material matters of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno Radoslav Glavaš, Nikola Šimović, Anđeo Nuić and Ambrozije Miletić.^[37]

On 18 February 1917, Mišić was decorated Commander's Star of the Order of Franz Joseph.^[35]

Hunger struck Herzegovina in the summer of 1917 during World War I. Some Herzegovinian parish priests went across the Sava river to collect food for their parishioners. On 5 December 1917, Mišić wrote to the archbishop of Zagreb Anton Bauer asking him to ask his parish priests to collect alms from their parishioners. Bauer advised him that it would be best to send a few Franciscans collecting alms in Croatia.^[38]

Mišić aided friar Didak Buntić in settling the Herzegovinian children in Slavonia and Srijem during the hunger. He also wrote petitions to the Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina Stjepan Sarkotić to buy the necessities for them.^[39]

In 1918, Austria-Hungary was dissolved, and the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina was incorporated in the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, ruled by the Serbian Orthodox Karađorđević dynasty.^[40] On 10 November 1923, Alexander I of Yugoslavia decorated him with Order of Saint Sava 1st class.^[35]

In 1940 and early 1941, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria all agreed to adhere to the Tripartite Pact and thus join the Axis. Hitler then pressured Yugoslavia to join as well.^[66] The Regent, Prince Paul, yielded to this pressure and declared Yugoslavia's accession to the Pact on 25 March 1941.^[67] This move was highly unpopular with the Serb-dominated officer corps of the military and some segments of the public: a large part of the Serbian population, as well as liberals and Communists.^[68] Military officers (mainly Serbs) executed a coup d'état on 27 March 1941 and forced the Regent to resign, while King Peter II, though only 17, was declared of age.^[69] Upon hearing news of the coup in Yugoslavia, on 27 March, Hitler issued a directive, which called for Yugoslavia to be treated as a hostile state.^[70] The Germans started an invasion with air assault on Belgrade on 6 April.^[71] The same day, Italians started the bombardment of Mostar that lasted for several days, damaging buildings and the Catholic church.^[72]

On 10 April 1941, the two Axis Powers, Germany and Italy, established its puppet Independent State of Croatia (NDH), which was divided by the demarcation line between Germany and Italy. The dioceses of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinje-Mrkan fell completely under the Italian zone of influence.^[73] The same day, there were clashes between Ustaša supporters and Yugoslav troops in Mostar, the former taking control of the city.^[74] The remnants of the Yugoslav army, commanded by General Janković, took control of the hill above the Bishop's Ordinariate and opened fire using cannons and machine guns. They also managed to get through Ilići and Cim, destroying 138 Catholic houses and murdering eight people.^[75] Tomasevich writes that after pro-Ustashe rebel soldiers captured Iliči, the army recaptured it, taking some prisoners to Mostar, who they released the next day. Ustashe documents claimed 85 houses burned and 6 people killed, numbers which were later dubiously inflated.^[76]

To calm the situation and avoid further destruction and massacres, Mišić urged Franciscan Leo Petrović and a prominent lawyer Cvitan Spužević to arrange peace talks with General Janković. The catastrophe was avoided, and Janković compensated for the damage from the military's budget. The Yugoslav army left the city, and the Italian army took control on 16 April. The Italians managed the city until 28 April, when they transferred the control to the newly established Ustaše government of NDH.^[75] However, the Yugoslav army on their way to Čapljina from Bileća, committed atrocities against the Croat population in Čapljina, Zavala, Ravno, Hutovo and Gabela, murdering around 20 people. The atrocities were also committed in Ljubuški and Seonica near Tomislavgrad, with three people dead.^[77] Contrary to these claims, Tomasevich notes that contemporary pro-Ustashe newspapers mentioned no massacres, just battles between the army and forces who switched to the Ustashe side. Only more than a year later did Ustashe propaganda claim such crimes.^[78]

In a circular of 9 May 1941 to the Catholic parishes of the dioceses of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinje-Mrkan, Mišić greeted the establishment of the NDH. In it, he referred to the leader of the NDH, the Poglavnik Ante Pavelić as an "exemplar Christian Catholic".^[79] After the Yugoslav army left the region, series of atrocities against its Serb population followed. Renegade Ustaše detachments, out of any control, massacred Serbs in Prebilovci. Catholic clergy protested those murders. The local parish priests Jozo Zovko and Andrija Majić reported the crimes to the Church authorities and "wept while they talked about the horrors". After collecting the evidence, Mišić sent Majić and wrote a letter to thus report the crimes to the archbishop of Zagreb Aloysius Stepinac:

"…[Ustasha officials] have abused their positions…People were caught like animals. Slaughtered, killed - thrown alive into the abyss. Women, mothers with children, adult girls, and female and male children were thrown into pits. The sub-prefect of Mostar, Mr. Baljić, a Mohammedan, publicly declares - as an official, he should be silent and not utter such statements - that in Ljubinje, 700 schismatics [Orthodox Christians] were thrown into one pit alone. From Mostar and Čapljina, the railway took six carloads of women, mothers and girls, and children under the age of ten to the Šurmanci station, where they were taken off the train, led up to the mountains, and the mothers and children were thrown alive off deep precipices. In the parish of Klepci, 3,700 schismatics from the surrounding villages were murdered. Poor people, they were calm. Must I continue? In the town of Mostar itself, they've been bound by the hundreds, taken outside the town and shot like animals"^[80]

Along with Archbishop of Zagreb Aloysius Stepinac, Mišić is numbered among the rank of the Catholic prelates who opposed the Ustaše violence.^[81] In the diocesan chronicle, Mišić was appalled by the crimes committed against the Serbs in Ljubinje, Stolac, Gornje Hrasno, Klepci, Šurmanci, Mostar, Ljubuški and Medjugorje. Mišić was threatened for receiving a horrified woman with two children whose husband was taken away and murdered. Rumours arose around 28 June that there would be a great reprisal against the Serb population, so Pavelić issued an order that threatened severe punishment to those who committed crimes against Serbs. However, the order had only a temporary effect.^[82] On 30 June 1941, Mišić wrote another circular interpreting Pavelić's order. In it, Mišić referred to the fifth commandment and asked for killings to stop, and invoked Jesus's example stating that he supplemented the fifth commandment and called the faithful not only not to kill but also not to be angered or vengeful because "every man is a brother".^[83]

On 3 May 1941, Pavelić proclaimed a bill "On conversions from one to another religion", and the Ministry of Religion and Education published the "Instructions on conversion from one to another religion" on 27 May 1941. Afterwards, many non-Catholics, but mostly the Eastern Orthodox Serbs, requested conversion. On 8 July 1941, Mišić sent another circular regarding this issue. In this circular, Mišić wrote against forced and violent conversions and demanded that the converts be sincere in their intention. Mišić said that all are welcome to join the Catholic Church but instructed the clergy to be wary of the intellectuals, such as priests, teachers, and the rich, but that they should be more welcoming to the ordinary citizens, workers, and artisans. He instructed the catechumen to be open and welcoming towards the converts and not to emphasise the difference between Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism.^[84]

Mišić later wrote in the chronicle that conversions occurred in Ravno, Stolac, Mostar, Goranci, Mostarski Gradac, Ljuti Dolac, Gabela, Klepci and Humac. Mišić writes that the process of conversion involved the Serbs reporting themselves to the civil authorities and publicly stating that they were converting to Catholicism. Afterward, they would bring confirmation of their intention to convert to the parish office where they would get a confirmation that they were received into the Catholic community. Then, they would receive religious education, while the newborns would be christened as Catholics. Mišić then writes that Ustashe murdered even these Catholic converts: "Very pious peasants of the Greek-Eastern faith, who live intermixed with Catholics, registered with the Catholic Church; go to holy Masse, they learned the Catholic catechism, baptized their children - but then the intruders issued their orders while the new converts were still in church at holy mass, they seized them, young and old, male and female, and drove them before them like cattle... and soon sent them to eternity, en masse."^[85] In his notes, Mišić wrote that "all this harmed the Croatian and Catholic cause" and that "if there was a different approach, it could have happened that Catholics, with those who convert, become the majority in BiH, and not depend on the mercy of the Mohammedans, who are known for their volatility, according to time, depending on what suited them better".^[86]

Regarding the Jews, in the same circular, Mišič wrote that there should be "a caution towards them to the extreme" and "restraint".^[84] However, to save them from the persecution, Mišić issued instructions to the priests that they should issue the Jews a confirmation of conversion without actually undertaking the process of conversion.^[87]

Mišić sent two letters to Stepinac. During the summer of 1941, some Croatian volunteers were sent to the Eastern Front. On 11 July 1942, Mišić asked Stepinac to secure Catholic chaplains for the departed soldiers. In his second letter to Stepinac, which is impossible to date, Mišić asked for help to protect the recent Serb converts who were taken to the concentration camps and asked for their release.^[88]

The relations between Mišić and the Franciscans deteriorated after the NDH was established.^[89] Cardinal Eugène Tisserant said to the unofficial representative of the NDH in Rome that the Franciscans in Bosnia and Herzegovina acted "abominably".^[90] There were several accusations against the Herzegovinian Franciscans in Rome, coming from several directions – other Croatian Franciscan provinces, the Serb refugees, the Italian military and civil authorities, the bishops and the representatives of the Holy See in the NDH. The accusations included their involvement in the violent events during the war, their occupation with worldly affairs, and their disobedience of the Church authority and the Holy See.^[91]

Not long before his death, Mišić tried to get an appointment for his successor. At first, he wanted someone from the ranks of Bosnian Franciscans to replace him and then sought a Herzegovinian Franciscan as a successor. However, the Holy See remained silent to his proposals.^[59][92] In 1937, the Franciscans requested him to appoint one of their own as bishop coadjutor.^[63] On 28 June 1940, Mišić proposed the Propaganda to appoint him a bishop coadjutor. However, he received no response.^[93] No appointment occurred before his death.^[94]

Although seemingly in good health, Mišić suddenly died of a stroke on 26 March 1942, sitting at his work table around noon. His body was found by his secretary, Ilovača. As his body was still warm, he was given the last rites.^[92] The memorial mass was held on 29 March in Mostar, led by Ivan Šarić, the archbishop of Vrhbosna. On the same day, his body was transferred to the friary church in Petrićevac, where on 31 March, another memorial mass was held by the bishop of Banja Luka Jozo Garić, after which he was buried there according to his wish.^[9][95][92] The 1969 earthquake destroyed the church and the friary in Petrićevac, so the Mišić's remains were transferred to a local cemetery in the summer of 1970.^[96]

After Mišić's death, on 29 March 1942, as dictated by the canon law, Čule was appointed as diocesan administrator by the archbishop of Vrhbosna Ivan Šarić. The Propaganda approved his appointment on 10 April 1942.^[93] Even though the Franciscans hoped that Mišić's successor would be a Franciscan, and their hopes were strengthened by the promises of the leader of the NDH Ante Pavelić to their own Radoslav Glavaš that a Franciscan would succeed Mišić, on 15 April 1942, the Holy See appointed Čule as the new bishop.^[94]