Zagreb, (IKA) – On October 10, at the fifty-fifth regular plenary session of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, Archbishop Želimir Puljićof Zadar was re-elected as the president of the CCB. ArchbishopPuljićwas born on March 7, 1947, in Kamenanear Mostar, the parish of Blagaj. He completed the diocesan classical gymnasium in Dubrovnik and studied theology in Split and Rome. In Rome, he earned a licentiate in pastoral theology and a doctorate in psychology.
He was ordained a priest on March 24, 1974, in Rome, and celebrated his first Mass in the Church of St. Teresa in Požega on July 7, 1974. After completing his studies, he held various positions at the seminary in Sarajevo (prefect, dean and from 1985 to 1988 rector of theology).
Pope John Paul II appointed him as the bishop of Dubrovnik on December 7, 1989, and his episcopal ordination took place on January 14, 1990, when he assumed office. On March 15, 2010, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the archbishop of Zadar.
At the Croatian Conference of Bishops, he served as president of the Council for Culture and the Cultural Heritage of the Church andpresident of the Council of the Croatian Conference of Bishops and the Bishops’ Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina for Pastoral Ministry in Foreign Countries. On November 14, 2012, at the forty-fifth session of the Croatian Conference of Bishops, he was elected for his first term as president of the CCB.