Zadar, (IKA) – Archbishop Emeritus Marijan Oblak of Zadar died on Friday, February 15 at 8:10 a.m. in the Archdiocesan Home in Zadar at the age of 88, after 63 years in the priesthood and 50 years in the episcopate. The body of the deceased will lie in state in the cathedral on Monday, February 18, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. A prayer vigil in the cathedral will begin on Monday, February 18, at 6 p.m.

Mons. Oblak was born on December 8, 1919 in Veli Rat on Dugi otok.
On August 5, 1945, he was ordained a priest in Šibenik. From 1945 to 1949, he was the prefect at the diocesan minor seminary in Šibenik and also a catechist at the state secondary school in Šibenik. From 1949 to 1951, he was the prefect at the Zmajević Archdiocesan Minor Seminary in Zadar and catechist at the archdiocesan secondary school in Zadar. From 1955 to 1958, he was the vice rector of the Zmajević Archdiocesan Minor Seminary in Zadar and a professor of the Croatian language, Croatian literature and the French language at the archdiocesan secondary school in Zadar.
On April 30, 1958, he was appointed auxiliary bishop and ordained a bishop on July 6, 1958 in the Cathedral of St. Anastasia in Zadar. From 1958 to 1968, as auxiliary bishop, he performed the duties of general vicar and head of the archdiocesan theological seminary in Zadar (1958 to 1970). He participated in the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. From 1968 to 1969, he was the capitulary vicar of the archdiocese of Zadar. On May 24, 1969, he assumed the leadership of the archdiocese as the apostolic administrator. On July 27, 1969, he was appointed archbishop of Zadar and assumed leadership as archbishop on November 21, 1969. Mons. Oblak served as bishop during the difficult post-WWII period and during the Homeland War. In the former Yugoslav Conference of Bishops, he was president of the Council for Pastoral Ministry to Tourists and a member of the Croatian Liturgical Commission. After the Croatian Conference of Bishops was established, he led the Council for Pastoral Ministry to Emigrants, Migrants and Mariners. On February 2, 1996, he retired.