Who and what are we?

The Parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was founded in 1789 by separation from the parish in Darda.
The residence of the parish is in Čeminac, with branches in Kozarac, Novi Čeminac and Jagodnjak.
We are located in Eastern Croatia, in central Baranja on a state road leading from Osijek through Beli Manastir to the Hungarian border and along the future corridor Vc.
According to church jurisdiction, we belong to the Archdiocese Ðakovo-Osijek and are part of the Baranja Deanary. Our neighbouring parishes are Darda, Bilje, Petlovac, Beli Manastir and Kneževi Vinogradi. At the moment there are about 1,700 catholics in this area.

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Until 1945 the majority of the population was predominantly German, but there were also some Hungarians and Serbs. After the end of the Second World War, the Geman population was driven out, but they have not lost their connections to the old homeland even today. After that, the parish is was inhabited by Croatians, mainly from Zagorje and Međimurje, who represent the majority of the population today.

Right before the Homeland war, the renovation of the parish church was completed and it was sanctified on 2 September 1990. During the Homeland war the vicar and the parishioners were exiled and the parish church was burned down, leaving only the walls standing. The return to the parish beagn in 1998 through the process of peaceful reintegration of Baranja and Eastern Slavonija. The renovated church was sanctified on 17 June 2007, on the day of the 100th anniversary of its construction. The branch churches of St Emerick (the Good Shepherd) in Kozarac and St Vendelin in Jagodnjak were also devastated and their restoration began after the return of the parishioners.

The Čeminac vicar and honorary canon of the Cathedral Chapter of Ðakovo and Srijem, Josip Varžić, passed away after 43 years as the head of the parish. He died of a stroke and was buried in Čeminac cemetery on 3 June 2008. A new vicar, Dinko Kalmar, was appointed on 17 August 2008.

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