The Roman Catholic Church was the dominant social force in the rural areas of Istria. The larger towns and cities, on the other hand, were characterized by lib-eralism and anti-clericalism. This contrast met with national attributions: Croatian and Slovenian Catholic-conservative rural population and liberal-nationalist Italian citizens. For this article, the archive holdings of the Volosca district administration, which also included the upcoming health resort of Abbazia/Opatija, were exam-ined. The majority of the population was Croatian, although less nationalized than in other areas of Istria, there were conflicts, especially in the ecclesiastical sphere, which were encouraged by some politically activist priests. These were about re-ligious instruction in the mother tongue, the language of registering and the use of the (Croatian) vernacular in mass celebrations and sacraments. The privilege of the Slavic liturgy, which was claimed by numerous priests, and the use of the Glago lica, which became a symbol of Croatian national self-confidence, were par-ticularly strongly nationally and politically charged. The dispute finally also brought the Roman church headquarters to the scene, which tried to push back the Croatian national movement in the ecclesiastical sphere based on canonical criteria, which led to massive internal church conflicts. In this regard, the article examines the situ-ation in the individual parishes and municipalities of the district of Volosca.