Bishop friar Marko Dobretić was born around 1707. in parish of Dobretić, in hamlet Brnjici, not far from Jajce. In region of Jajce there is a story, which was recorded by friar Anto Knežević, that Friar Marko Dobretic till his bachelor age staid at his home and wanted to marry a girl who left him. After that he decided to go to priests. Serving in Dalmatian monastery, which in that time was within Bosnian provinces, as a young priest he amazed people by his subtlety and extraordinary behavior.
He studied in Italy where he finished his studies and became a philosophy professor, as well as dogmatic and moral theology in different Italian schools. After 18 years of such work, he returns to Bosnia in 1757, where he is elected for custodian, and later for provincial of Bosnia Argentina. In 1772 The Pope Clement appointed him as an apostolic vicar and Eritrea bishop. He died in Fojnica in 1784.
Friar Marko Dobretić wrote extensive moral – pastoral textbook for priests of his provinces known as Moral Theology (Ancona 1782). It’s about manual of 600 pages on sacraments, written in mother tongue, which put Dobretić as one of the best theological writers among Franciscans in 18. century.
Dobretići heritage its name from medieval Bosnian feudal family of Stjepan Dobreta, for who friar Marko Dobretić writes that he died in 1472, who’d lived 98 years.
