The St. Louis Catholic Church is proud to host a Croatian language mass the last Sunday of each month at 12 noon.Fulfilling the promise made by Rev. John Segaric of the St. Anthony Croatian Catholic parish to Marko Idzan, a leader of the Croatian refugee community in Denver, Father Mate Bizaca established the first Croatian monthly mass at the St. Louis parish in Denver in July 1999 with the support of Fr. Robert Reycraft. With this fraternal understanding the Croatian Catholic Mission was established and Fr. Bizaca’s monthly visits to this Croatian community have never been missed.
It would be an understatement to say that Fr. Bizaca upholds his Croatian heritage. His work and pastoral care for the Croatian immigrants in the United States holds true to preserving the Croatian Christian legacy that is almost 14 centuries old.
After the war broke out in 1991, thousands of new refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina fled to the west of the United States. These communities were spread unevenly over the country, hence ministering to the pastoral needs of these communities for has not been met until recently.
Until July 1999 there were no Croatian parishes between Los Angeles and St. Louis. This became a huge disadvantage to the pastoral care for the Croatian immigrants in the United States. To fulfill the spiritual needs of the many Croatian immigrants who reside in this expanse Fr. Bizaca established the local Croatian Mission in Denver as of July 1999, Las Vegas in May of 2000, San Diego in January of 2001, and more recently in Houston in August of 2009. Fr. Bizaca regularly visits these communities at least once a month in order to minister to their spiritual needs and advance human salvation.
For over ten years Fr. Bizaca has overseen the Croatian Catholic Mission in Colorado and is indebted to the preservation of the Croatian heritage, values, customs, language and rich Croatian Church traditions. With God’s grace and guidance he looks forward for many more prosperous years in the Croatian Catholic Mission of Colorado.