HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE FOUNDATION AND ORGANISATION OF THE PARISH OF DUBRAVE IN THE BISHOPRIC OF TREBINJE BEFORE 300 YEARS

Morejski rat (1684.–1699.), koji se dijelom vodio i na području Trebinjsko-mrkanske biskupije, prouzročio je velike promjene, i s obzirom na broj stanovništva i s obzirom na crkveno ustrojstvo biskupije. Karlovačkim mirom dio biskupije potpada pod mletačku vlast i na njemu trebinjsko-mrkanski biskupi prestaju vršiti jurisdikciju. Kao posljedica toga dolazi do preustroja župa u biskupiji. Budući da je najveći dio župe Dobrane ostao pod Mlečanima, 1704. osniva se nova župa, koja je prozvana Dubrave, na prostoru župe Dobrane koji je ostao pod turskom vlašću. Kad je osnovana, župa je imala 60 katoličkih obitelji koje su bili razasute među »turcima« i »šizmaticima«. Prvi i dugogodišnji župnik bio je don Savo Vukić, koji je 1721. imenovan nikopoljskim biskupom, ali se zbog protivljenja Turaka morao odreći te službe. Život u župi, i za župnika i za katolike, bio je težak jer su bili izloženi stalnim turskim nametima i napadima. Ipak, katoličanstvo se na ovom prostoru uspjelo održati pa čak i povećati već u prvim desetljećima 18. stoljeća.The war for Morea (1684-1699), that had its spontaneous effects in the region of the bishopric of Trebinje and Mrkan, triggered many alterations in the bishopric regarding the population and regarding the ecclesiastical organisation. At the end of the war a part of thebishopric became a part of the Venetian dominion, and the bishop of Trebinje was not able to govern this area. Direct result of this fact was ecclesiastical reorganisation of the local parishes. Since the major part of the parish Dobrane came into the Venetian protectorate, the rest of this parish under the Ottoman rule was reorganised into a new parish under the name of Dubrava. This parish embraced a territory circled by mount Žabe, Popovo polje, towns of Stolac and Mostar and following the down-stream of the river Neretva up to the border with Venetian dominion near the town of Metković. At the beginning the parish had 60 Catholic families, led by the parish priest don Savo Vukić, who was in 1721 appointed to the position of bishop of Nikopolje (Edrine). Life in the parish was rather harsh because of the heavy Ottoman taxes and harassments. However, Catholicism survived in this region and even increased during the first decades of the eighteenth century