Zagreb, November 27, 1998 (IKA) – Msgr. Đuro Kokša, retired auxiliary bishop of Zagreb and canon of the Zagreb Cathedral, having received the Holy Sacraments, died on Thursday, November 26, at 11:30 p.m., according to an announcement by the Archdiocesan See in Zagreb.
Bishop Đuro Kokša was born in Molve on May 17, 1922, where he completed elementary school. After completing secondary school at the Boy#!s Seminary on Šalata in Zagreb, he went to Rome where he studied theology, canon law and history at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained to the priesthood on October 26, 1947 in Rome. He soon became the rector of the Pontifical Croatian Institute of St. Jerome and remained in Rome until he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Zagreb on April 20, 1978. He was ordained as auxiliary bishop at the Zagreb Cathedral on July 23, 1978. As a bishop, he held the office of general vicar in the Zagreb Archdiocese. In the Croatian Conference of Bishops, among other functions, he served as the president of the Council for Ecumenicism and the president of the Council for Culture. He was appointed a canon of the Zagreb Cathedral Chapter and was the provost until his death. Bishop Kokša retired on March 3, 1998. In addition to his pastoral activities in the Church of St. Jerome in Rome and his episcopal duties in the Zagreb Archdiocese, Bishop Kokša was well known in the fields of history, literature and art.
The funeral service for Bishop Kokša will be held at the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb. The date will be announced.