Anđeo Kraljević

Anđeo Kraljević O.F.M. (29 October 1807 – 27 August 1879) was a Herzegovinian Croat Franciscan and a prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Apostolic Vicar of Herzegovina in the Ottoman Empire from 1864 to 1879. Kraljević was also the first Custos of the Franciscan Custody of Herzegovina, holding the office on two occasions, from 1852 to 1856 and again from 1862 to 1865.

Kraljević was a member of the Franciscan Province of Bosnia since 1823 and was ordained a priest in 1831. Since the 1840s, he was one of the initiators to establish the Franciscan Custody of Herzegovina, separate from the Bosnian Province. He became the first head of the Herzegovinian Custody serving as a custos on two non-consecutive terms, from 1852 to 1856 and again from 1862 to 1865.

As a custos, he published a schematism of the Custody of Herzegovina in 1853. Afterwards, he lectured seminarians at the Franciscan friary in Široki Brijeg. In 1860, he published Spiritual Conversations and 1863 Latin-Illyrian Grammar. In 1870, his sermons were published under the title Speeches during festivities.

In 1864, Kraljević was appointed Apostolic Vicar of Herzegovina. As a vicar, he helped establish the first Croatian printing office in Mostar in 1872. During his tenure, the uprising of Christians, mostly Eastern Orthodox, started against the Ottoman Empire. During the rebellion, Kraljević dissuaded Catholics from participation and called for the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary.

After the Austrian-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1878, he entered into a conflict with the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina over the distribution of parishes by requesting some of the parishes be handed over from the Franciscans to the secular clergy. The issue remained unresolved, and Kraljević died in Konjic the following year.