Professor at dogmatic theology, aged 37, he was appointed by Pope Pius XII as Auxiliary Bishop of the See of Split-Makarska, receiving his episcopal consecration with the Titular See of Agathopolis on December 17, 1950, from Bishop Quirino Clemente Bonefacic.
Following the retirement of the named Msgr. Bonefacic, Franić was named as his successor as Bishop of the Diocese of Split-Makarska, on December 24, 1960. When his see was elevated to an archdiocese, Msgr. Franić was named as its first archbishop on July 27, 1969.
One of the participators of the Second Vatican Council, serving as one of its counselors for various official commissions, during his episcopate, the Archbishop faced several historical difficult periods in his Country, and was a keen promoter for Ecumenism and social dialogue.
During one of his numerous visits to Medjugorje, the Archbishop said: "Our Queen of Peace has done more pastoral work in six years than our bishops did in our dioceses in forty".
Retiring from the pastoral government of his see at the canonical age of 75, on September 10, 1988, the Archbishop passed away at the venerable age of 94, whilst recovered in a clinic in Split, on Saturday, March 17, 2007. Originally buried inside the Co–Cathedral of Saint Peter, in the named city of Split, on March 23, 2022, he was re-interred alongside his successor Msgr. Ante Jurić in the newly constructed church of the Svete Obitelji u Prasvetištu Gospe on Our Lady's Island in Solin in accordance to their wishes.
Professor at dogmatic theology, aged 37, he was appointed by Pope Pius XII as Auxiliary Bishop of the See of Split-Makarska, receiving his episcopal consecration with the Titular See of Agathopolis on December 17, 1950, from Bishop Quirino Clemente Bonefacic.
Following the retirement of the named Msgr. Bonefacic, Franić was named as his successor as Bishop of the Diocese of Split-Makarska, on December 24, 1960. When his see was elevated to an archdiocese, Msgr. Franić was named as its first archbishop on July 27, 1969.
One of the participators of the Second Vatican Council, serving as one of its counselors for various official commissions, during his episcopate, the Archbishop faced several historical difficult periods in his Country, and was a keen promoter for Ecumenism and social dialogue.
During one of his numerous visits to Medjugorje, the Archbishop said: "Our Queen of Peace has done more pastoral work in six years than our bishops did in our dioceses in forty".
Retiring from the pastoral government of his see at the canonical age of 75, on September 10, 1988, the Archbishop passed away at the venerable age of 94, whilst recovered in a clinic in Split, on Saturday, March 17, 2007. Originally buried inside the Co–Cathedral of Saint Peter, in the named city of Split, on March 23, 2022, he was re-interred alongside his successor Msgr. Ante Jurić in the newly constructed church of the Svete Obitelji u Prasvetištu Gospe on Our Lady's Island in Solin in accordance to their wishes.
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