Bishop Alojzije Slavko Večerin ( sr-cyr, Славко Вечерин; 6 June 1957 – 26 August 2022) was a Serbian

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prelate who served as the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Subotica in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

from 8 September 2020 until his death. He was a member of the International Bishops' Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius.

Education

Bishop Večerin was born into a Vojvodina Croats Roman Catholic family in Palić (town located in the city of

Subotica Subotica ( sr-cyrl, Суботица, ; hu, Szabadka) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, ...

). After graduation from the primary school in his native town and the classical gymnasium in

in 1976, he consequently joined the Archdiocesan Theological Seminary in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

and the Theological Faculty at the University of Zagreb, were he studied from 1976 until 1983, and was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 14 August 1983 for his native Diocese of Subotica, after completed his philosophical and theological studies.

Later career

After his ordination Fr. Večerin for a short time served as an assistant priest in the parish of the Holy Trinity in Sombor (1983–1985), until in the summer of 1985 he was appointed administrator of the parish of St. Paul in Bač. Then, in 1991, he was transferred to

, where he served as a spiritual director in the Minor Seminary Paulinum and archivist of the Episcopal Ordinariate. From 1994 to 2006, he served as secretary of the Diocese of Subotica. At the same time he served as the parish priest in the parish of St. Peter and Paul in Bajmok (1998–2008), and then from 2011 to 2016 in the parish of Mary Mother of the Church in

, and at the same time he was the rector of the Marian shrine Bunarić. Since 2016 until 2020, he was the pastor of the parish of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Sombor. He was the

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

of the Diocese of Subotica since 2005 until 2020 and was a member of the Liturgical Council of the International Bishops' Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius from 1999 to 2009.

Prelate

On 8 September 2020, he was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

as third diocesan bishop of

. On 14 November 2020, he was consecrated as bishop by Bishop László Német and other prelates of the

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in the Cathedral of St. Theresa of Avila in

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Večerin, Slavko 1957 births 2022 deaths People from Subotica Croats of Vojvodina Croats of Serbia University of Zagreb alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Serbia Bishops appointed by Pope Francis