Želimir Puljić (7 March 1947) is a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who served as the archbishop of

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

from 2010 to 2023 and bishop of

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

from 1989 to 2010. He briefly served as the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Split-Makarska in 2023.

Early life and education

Puljic attended primary school in Blagaj and

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

and finished school in Pozega, where his parents moved. From 1962 to 1966 he attended classical high school at the Diocesan Seminary in

. From 1966 to 1970 he studied theology in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enter ...

and continued his studies in Rome at the

Pontifical Urbaniana University The Pontifical Urban University, also called the ''Urbaniana'' after its names in both Latin and Italian, is a pontifical university that was under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. The university's mission is to ...

. In 1978 he received a diploma in Pastoral Theology from the Lateran University. In addition to his theological studies, he graduated from the Faculty of Pedagogy at the Salesian University of Rome, where he received his doctorate on 12 March 1980.

Priesthood

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 24 March 1974, for the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, Puljić was appointed Bishop

on 7 December 1989 and was ordained into that office on 14 January 1990. Bishop Puljić became the archbishop of Zadar on 15 March 2010. In October 2010, Archbishop Puljić, following up on the wish of his predecessor, conveyed a small silver reliquary containing a portion of the relics of Saint Simeon to Archbishop Theofylactus of Jordan, representative of

Theophilos III Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem (; ; born 4 April 1952) is the current Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem since 2005. He is styled Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, ...

Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem The Greek Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem or Eastern Orthodox patriarch of Jerusalem, officially patriarch of Jerusalem (; ; ), is the head bishop of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, ranking fourth of nine patriarchs in the Easte ...

, for the monastery of Saint Simeon the Godbearer in Katamon, Jerusalem. It is popularly believed that the relics of Saint Simeon, one of the patron saints of

, lie in the Church of Saint Simeon, in Zadar. On 14 January 2023, the Apostolic Nunciature announced that the Pope accepted Puljić's renunciation from the service and appointed Milan Zgrablić his successor.

Memberships

Puljić served in various capacities in the Croatian Bishops' Conference. He was a member of the Permanent Council of the HBK from 1996 to 2002, president of the Family Council from 199 to 1998, member of the Commission for the Croatian Institute of St. Jerome in Rome from 1997 to 2002, member of the Commission for the Regulation of Relations with the State from 1996 to 2002, and president of the HBK from 1999 to 2002. He was also president of the HBK Council for Culture and Church Heritage, president of the HBK and BC BiH Council for Croatian Foreign Pesti and a member of the HBK Episcopal Commission for Relations with the European Union. Puljić is a member of the

European Academy of Sciences and Arts The European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA, ) is a transnational and interdisciplinary network, connecting about 2,000 recommended scientists and artists worldwide, including 38 Nobel Prize laureates. The European Academy of Sciences and ...

.European Academy of Sciences and Arts
He was a member of the Governing Council of the

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb (, ) is a public university, public research university in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the largest Croatian university and one of the oldest continuously operating universities in Europe. The University of Zagreb and the Unive ...

from 1993 to 1995 and a member of the Council of the University of Dubrovnik from 2005 to 2009.

Notes

External links

1947 births Living people Clergy from Mostar Bishops of Dubrovnik Archbishops of Zadar Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Croatia 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Croatia {{Croatia-RC-archbishop-stub