[1] Leaders of this initiative were Nikola Kordić, Anđeo Kraljević and Ilija Vidošević.

[2] At the time, Apostolic Vicar of Bosnia Rafael Barišić had an uneasy relationship with the Bosnian Franciscans.

The Herzegovinian Franciscans established a contact with vizier of Herzegovina Ali Pasha Rizvanbegović, who in 1833 was granted by the Ottoman sultan his own eyalet created from the southern part of the eyalet of Bosnia — for his loyalty during the Bosnian uprising.

The Franciscans believed they would build their own friary faster if the apostolic vicar came to Herzegovina.

Such an enterprise was too expensive for the Franciscans, who in order to complete the construction, traveled around the world to receive donations.

The first western wing of the friary was finally finished in 1849, which allowed the Franciscans to move from Čerigaj to Široki Brijeg.

[6] According to journalist Richard West, the Franciscans of Bosnia and Herzegovina played a leading role in the atrocities during World War II, particularly against Serbs and their center of operations was the Široki Brijeg monastery.