tavelic was among 60 friars from various franciscan provinces who answered an appeal by the bosnian guardian, motivated by a papal bull, "prae cunctis", issued in 1291 by pope nicholas iv, himself a friar minor, to work as missionaries in bosnia, combating the perceived heresies of the bosnian church. tavelic spread catholicism around bosnia for 12 years. in his report to the pope, the bosnian guardian later said that the missionaries converted around 50,000 members of that church.