Frane Franić

Frane Franić (29 December 1912 – 17 March 2007) was a prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the Archbishop of Split-Makarska from 1969 until his retirement in 1988. He also served as the last Bishop of Split-Makarska, before the diocese was elevated to the status of an archdiocese, from 1960 to 1969.

Prior to that, Franić was the apostolic administrator of the same diocese from 1954 to 1960, and an auxiliary bishop, holding the title of the titular bishop of Agathopolis, from 1950 to 1954.

Franić belonged to a group of conservative prelates willing to engage in a dialogue with the communist government of Yugoslavia. As an archbishop, Franić promoted a dialogue between Christianity and Marxism, entering in conflict with the Archbishop of Zagreb, Franjo Kuharić, who was an opponent of the dialogue. After 1960s, Franić also promoted ecumenical dialogue. Provided by Wikipedia