Msgr. Mirko Štefković will succeed the Archbishop of Belgrade, Ladislav Német, who had been serving as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Zrenjanin.

Mirko Štefković was born on September 24, 1977, in Subotica (Tavankut), the second of three sons of Ivan and Dominika, née Ivanković. His older brother, Josip, is a diocesan priest and currently serves as Dean of the Sombor Deanery and pastor of the parishes of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and St. Nicholas Tavelić in Sombor. His younger brother, Nikola, is married and has three children. 

He attended primary school in Tavankut, Stari Žednik and Subotica, and completed his secondary education at the Paulinum Diocesan Classical Gymnasium in Subotica. He spent one year in Niš completing his compulsory military service. Upon returning home in the summer of 1997, the Bishop of Subotica, Ivan Pénzes, sent him to Rome as a candidate for priesthood. There, he spent two years at Casa Balthasar, an institution for the formation of priestly vocations, followed by six years at the Pontifical College Germanicum et Hungaricum. From 1998 to 2000, he studied philosophy at the Pontifical University Urbaniana. He subsequently studied theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he obtained a licentiate in fundamental theology in 2006.

Bishop Pénzes ordained him a deacon in Rome on May 3, 2003. He then spent one year in pastoral ministry at the Parish of Our Lady of the Snows in Horgoš. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 2004, at St. Teresa of Avila Cathedral in Subotica.

Upon returning from his postgraduate studies, he was appointed the Bishop’s private secretary and notary at the Diocesan Chancery, positions he held until 2020. In 2021, he was appointed Diocesan Financial Officer and Director of the Josephinum Priests’ Home. From 2011 to 2023, he also served as the diocesan master of ceremonies and spokesperson.

In 2010, he was appointed Assistant Secretary of the International Bishops’ Conference of Saints Cyril and Methodius. He served as the Conference’s General Secretary from 2016 to 2021.

In addition to the above-mentioned positions, from May 2007 to June 2011 he was editor-in-chief and managing editor of the Catholic newspaper Zvonik. He also served for several terms as a member of the College of Diocesan Consultors, the Presbyteral Council and the Diocesan Finance Council, as well as the Committee for the commemoration of the innocent victims who perished in 1944 and 1945 in the area of the City of Subotica. He teaches fundamental theology at the Institute of Theology and Catechetics of the Diocese of Subotica. He is a regular contributor to Radio Maria Serbia. 

In addition to his native Croatian, he speaks Serbian, Hungarian, Italian and German, and also has a working knowledge of English.