Dražen Kutleša

Dražen Kutleša (born 25 September 1968) is a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church who has been archbishop of Split-Makarska in Croatia and Montenegro since 2022. He served as bishop of Poreč-Pula in Croatia from 2012 to 2020.

He was bishop coadjutor of Poreč and Pula for six months becoming bishop there and archbishop coadjutor of Split-Makarska for almost two years before succeeding as archbishop there. From 2006 to 2001 he worked on the staff of the Congregation for Bishops.

Biography

Dražen Kutleša was born in Duvno, present-day Tomislavgrad, in Bosnia and Herzegovina to his father Krešo and mother Danica nee Ćurić, Croatian Catholics who live in Prisoje. His brother Grgo lives with his family in Split, Croatia. Kutleša attended elementary school in Prisoje from 1975 to 1983 and then the humanistic grammar school "Ruđer Bošković" in Dubrovnik, graduating in 1987. He studied philosophy and theology at the seminary in Sarajevo from 1987 to 1993, spending his final year in Bol. In June 1994 he graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Theological College in Vrhbosna.

Kutleša was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno on 29 June 1993. He spent two years as a chaplain at the Cathedral Parish of Mary Mother of the Church in Mostar and also taught religious education at Gimnazija Mostar from 1993 to 1995.

Beginning in 1995 he studied canon law at the Pontifical Urban University on a scholarship from the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, living at the Missionary Pontifical Institute of St. Peter the Apostle. He obtained his master's degree in canon law in 1997. He spent the academic year 1996/97 mastering administrative practice at the Congregation for the Clergy.

In 1998 he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of diocese and in 2000 the bishop's personal secretary. At the same time, as parish administrator, he was responsible for handling the matter of the parish of Grude, which was usurped by three Franciscans who had been dismissed from their order and suspended from priestly activity. He also served on the priests council and was a member of the college of consultors. Within the Bishops Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina he was a member of the Council of ''Justicia et Pax''.

After another year of courses he worked as a clerk at the diocesan offices in Mostar while completing his doctorate, which he obtained from the Pontifical Urban University in 2001. He was a professor of law at the Theological Institute in Mostar from 2003 to 2006. His academic work as of 2011 included more than 80 articles on canon law.

He joined the staff of the Congregation for Bishops on 1 April 2006, and he became as well in February 2011 an associate of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

On 17 October 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Kutleša bishop coadjutor of Poreč and Pula in Croatia. He received his episcopal consecration on 10 December from Cardinal Marc Ouellet, with co-consecrators Ivan Milovan and Ratko Perić. He chose as his motto the words (In You, Lord, I trust!) from Psalm 31. He became bishop there when Pope Benedict accepted the resignation of his predecessor Ivan Milovan on 14 June 2012.

On 11 June 2020, Pope Francis named him archbishop coadjutor of Split-Makarska. On 3 September 2020, he was named apostolic administrator of Poreč and Pula until a new bishop is installed there. He succeeded as archbishop of Split-Makarska when Pope Francis accepted the resignation of his predecessor Marin Barišić on 13 May 2022. On 13 July 2022, Pope Francis named him a member of the Dicastery for Bishops.

Within the Croatian Bishops Conference, he is a member of the permanent council, president of the legal commission, and president of the commission for relations with the state.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kutlesa, Drazen
1968 births
Living people
People from Tomislavgrad
Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Pontifical Urban University alumni
Officials of the Roman Curia
Bishops of Poreč-Pula
Archbishops of Split-Makarska
Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI
Bishops appointed by Pope Francis
21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Croatia