''Romanis Pontificibus'' is a

papal decree A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden seal ('' bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal bulls have been in use at l ...

, issued on 6 June 1975 by Pope

Paul VI Pope Paul VI (born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 until his death on 6 August 1978. Succeeding John XXII ...

, that concerns the Herzegovina Affair: the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friars of

Herzegovina Herzegovina ( or ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Hercegovina, separator=" / ", Херцеговина, ) is the southern and smaller of two main geographical Regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Bosnia (reg ...

took control of the local parishes and refused to hand them over to the local bishops and priests, despite the Franciscan

vow of obedience In the Catholic Church, the vow of obedience is one of the three vows of professing to live according to the evangelical counsels. It forms part of the religious vows that are made both by members of the religious institutes and diocesan hermits. ...

. The decree specified the relative jurisdictions of the friars and the diocesan clergy.

Historical precedent

In July 1881

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

, by the apostolic constitution '' Ex hac augusta'', established the ecclesiastical province of Vrhbosna, which also contained

, and appointed a residential bishop for the diocese of Mostar, to which he joined the ancient title of Duvno. Paul VI references Leo's ''Romanos Pontifices'', an

apostolic constitution An apostolic constitution () is the most solemn form of legislation issued by the Pope.New Commentary on the Code of Canon Law, pg. 57, footnote 36. By their nature, apostolic constitutions are addressed to the public. Generic constitutions use ...

of May 1881 which defined the relationship between bishops and members of

religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...

s.Meehan, Andrew. "Constitutio Romanos Pontifices." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 10 November 2015 Paul VI quoted '' Ad gentes'', the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

's decree regarding missionary activity.

It is the bishop's role, as the ruler and centre of unity in the diocesan apostolate, to promote missionary activity, to direct it and to coordinate it but always in such a way that the zeal and spontaneity of those who share in the work may be preserved and fostered. All missionaries, even exempt Religious, are subject to his power in the various works which refer to the exercise of the sacred apostolate.''Ad gentes'', §30b
/ref>

References

{{Our Lady of Medjugorje Catholic Church in Bosnia and Herzegovina Pope Paul VI