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.

When Pope Paul VI established the Split-Makarska archbishopric on July 27, 1969, Franić was elevated to be the resident Archbishop of the metropolis.

A week after he issued the ban, Franić was surrounded by several communists while visiting a village parish and was threatened with death.

[11] At the very end of the Second Vatican Council, the Dalmatian bishops, including Franić, held a meeting in Rome on 18 November 1965.

[13][12] The bishops met again at a friary in Čiovo on 6 May 1966, where Franić proposed that the Rome agreement should be implemented in the academic year of 1968/69.

Franić was a traditionalist on the issue of the Pope's primacy and suggested that the vow of poverty of religious orders should apply to secular clergy as well.

Franić also wanted the Council to give a better interpretation of the episcopal power and order to confirm the authority of the bishops.

Franić held that episcopacy is a different sacrament from that of a priesthood, and is "firmly rooted as such in the Christian tradition, which is based on the Holy Scripture".

Frane Franić became one of the leading intellectuals supporting dialogue with Marxism and the state authorities, others being theologians like Tomislav Šagi-Bunić, Vjekoslav Bajsić and Josip Turčinović.

He showed interest in dialogue quite early and in November 1970, Franić accepted an invitation to lecture on theology and revolution at the Seminar for Political and Sociological Research at the Faculty of Law in Split.

[21] In 1973, Franić published a book titled Putovi dijaloga (Dialogue Routes) in which he explained that Marxism is useful to Christianity.

[23] Pedro Ramet wrote that Franić defined the church as a "hierarchical community of faith hope and love.

'"[23] As a metropolitan, Franić led other Dalmatian bishops, who were very conservative in dogmatics on one hand, but advocated Christian-Marxist dialogue and ecumenism on the other.

As such, they stood against the Croatian mainstream led by Šeper, who advocated internal church reforms, but rejected any dialogue with Marxism.

"[24] Franić opposed the activity of Kršćanska sadašnjost (KS) a Catholic publishing society established by Cardinal Franjo Šeper in Zagreb.

Randall Sullivan wrote that in regards to conversions, Franic said, "Medjugorje has accomplished more in two years than all our pastoral action has done in forty.

Mladen Parlov wrote that Franić said that he received an inner revelation to "increase his personal prayers from three to four hours a day.

According to Mladen Parlov the prophecy stated that "the Madonna blesses the archbishop and he will have to endure a lot on the highest level because of my name" and "Our Lady also invited him to love everyone, not just Catholics and not just Croats.

[34] Franić later said that in 1986, because of his support for the Medjugorje phenomenon, he was accused in Rome for collaboration with the communists and that there was a process against him without his knowledge with the intention to replace him.

He received Pope John Paul II's congratulation for his gold mass on 15 December 1996, and interpreted it as a fulfillment of that prophecy and convinced him even more of the truth of Our Lady's apparitions in Medjugorje.

According to Mladen Parlov, Franić said that the Medjugorje apparitions should be studied using the criteria of mystical theology which knows how to distinguish ordinary from ecstatic prayer.

According to Paul Kengor, she came with the "same message as Fatima: peace, conversion, fasting, reconciliation, repentance, penance, reparation and prayer.

"[37] Archbishop Frane Franic, Father Guido Sommavilla, Monsignor Rene Laurentin and others were known for supporting "supernatural" phenomenon banned by the Holy See.

[30][38] According to Paolo Apolito, Franic, stating his opinion in the Medjugorje newsletter of Genoa, announced that Vassula is faithful “to all revealed truths as they are taught and explained by the Catholic Church."

Father Guido Sommavilla revealed that the Vatican made mistakes in regards to Padre Pio and the Blessed Sister Faustina Kowalskawho already within the twentieth century.

[38] A notable Croatian Catholic journalist and vaticanist Smiljana Rendić said in 1985 of Franić's support for Medjugorje that they were "manipulations", calling it "grotesque".

This was the moment that led Franić to abandon his previously held ecumenical positions towards the Eastern Orthodox Serbs.

His funeral ceremony led by the Archbishop of Zagreb Josip Bozanić and was attended by numerous bishops from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, and Italy.