Introduction of Josephinism into Pastoral Structure and the Slavonian and Danube Region Franciscans

Habsburška monarhija nametnula je u razdoblju jozefinizma potkraj 18. st ustrojstvu i djelovanju Katoličke crkve bitne promjene. Zahvat države opravdava sam car Josip II. (1780.-1790.) kad ističe da je carska zadaća voditi brigu o onome što spada na »upravljanje Crkvom, dušobrižništvo i vanjsku crkvenu disciplinu.« Država je uspostavila i novo pastoralno ustrojstvo koje se zasniva na novom razgraničenju biskupija i župa, i to nakon prethodnog dokidanja nekih crkvenih redova i određenog broja samostana preostalih redovnika, a zatim zahtijeva uvođenje redovnika u pastoralnu službu. Franjevce u Slavoniji i Podunavlju u sastavu Provincije sv. Ivana Kapistranskoga, najbrojnije redovnike na tom području, nije osjetljivo uznemirilo samo preustrojstvo župa kad je u slavonskom dijelu Zagrebačke biskupije osnovano 12 novih župa, a 22 župe u Đakovačkoj biskupiji. Daleko više je tu franjevačku pokrajinu pogodio odlazak više od 150 članova u pastoralnu službu izvan samostana koji su prihvatili službe župnika i župnih, vojnih, bolničkih i dvorskih kapelana. Nepovoljne učinke izlaska tolikog broja redovnika izvan samostana na život te zajednice pokušao je spriječiti provincijski starješina, provincijal Josip Pavišević (1783.-1791., 1797.-1800.); dijelom je uspio u tom nastojanju.At the time of Josephinism being in full swing, the State had defined a special programme of pastoral reforms which was directed to the religious and moral education of people. To that effect the priest had to channel his sermons, religious instructions, teaching of belivers, arrangements of masses, limiation of feast days and could not conduct some services and also had to apply a different relations to the Sacraments. In the realization of the pastoral reforms the Emperor Joseph II (1780—1790) cared not at all for the Church but made that the imperial task blenged to »the administration of the Church, cure of souls and externel ecclesiastical discipline«. The new pastoral structure, based on a new bounadry determination of bishopric and parishes, took place only after the previous abolition of some religious orders and the closure of a certain number of manoasteries from which the remaining friars were sent to develop their work on pastoral care. The Franciscans of Slavonia and the Danube basin, as part of the Province of St. John Kapistran, were less hit by the restructuring of parisches in Croatia when, especially in the Slavonian part of Zagreb’s Bischopric, 12 new parisches were founded and 22 in the Bishopric of Đakovo. The departure of 150 friars from the monasteries were sent to develop pastoral activities as parish priests and parisch, military, hospital and court chaplins had had by far more powerful repercussionis. The Franciscan superior, the Provincial Josip Pavišević (1783-1791; 1797-1800), had made every effort for the Franciscans eployed in those new services tο maintain close relations with their brotherhoods and that under new cicrumstances do not abandon the Franciscan way of life, though it was permissible by the existing Emperor’s ordinances