Zagreb, (IKA) – Archbishop Josip Bozanić of Zagreb was born on March 20, 1949 in Rijeka to Ivan and Dinka (née Valković) Bozanić. He attended elementary school in Vrbnik on the island of Krk and secondary school in Pazin, graduating in 1968. In the autumn of that year, he began to study philosophy and theology in Rijeka but midway through the academic year had to interrupt his studies to serve in the military. Following the completion of his military obligations, he continued the study of theology in Rijeka and later in Zagreb, where he graduated from the Catholic Faculty of Theology.

Bishop Karmelo Zazinović of Krk ordained him to the priesthood on June 29, 1975 in Krk. The same year, he was appointed secretary to the bishop. He served in this position from 1975 to 1976 and from 1978 to 1979. In the meantime, from 1976 to 1978, he was the parish vicar in Mali Lošinj and the administrator of the parish of Veli Lošinj.

During this period, he also enrolled in postgraduate studies at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb, where in 1979 he earned the degree of master of theology in dogmatics. The bishop sent him for further study in Rome, where as a border at the Pontifical Croatian Institute of St. Jerome he continued his studies in theology at the Gregorian Pontifical University and in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University, earning a licentiate in canon law. Upon returning from Rome, he was appointed chancellor of the diocesan ordinariate in 1986 and general vicar of the Krk Diocese in 1987. From 1988 to 1997, he taught dogmatic theology and canon law at the School of Theology in Rijeka. When the Justitia et Pax Commission of the Yugoslav Conference of Bishops was established in 1987, he served as vice president until 1993.

On May 10, 1989, Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop coadjutor of Krk. Cardinal Franjo Kuharić ordained him in the Krk Cathedral on June 25, 1989. He served as the bishop coadjutor until November 14, 1989, when he became the diocesan bishop of Krk. During the illness of Archbishop Metropolitan Anton Tamarut of Rijeka-Senj, he was the apostolic administrator of the Rijeka-Senj Archdiocese from June 5 to November 22, 1996.

In the bishops’ conference, he has performed various duties. From 1989 to 1997, he was president of the Council for the Laity. He also served several mandates as a member of the Episcopal Commission for the Pontifical Croatian Institute of St. Jerome in Rome. On several occasions, he represented our bishops’ conference at meetings of bishops’ conferences in various countries in Europe and in international bodies. Since the Croatian Conference of Bishops was established in 1993, he has been a member of the Permanent Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops in all the mandates. He served on the Commission of the CCB for Relations with the Government since it was established and in 1996 became the chairman. It was during this time that the international contracts were drawn up between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia.

On July 5, 1997, he was appointed as the archbishop of Zagreb and assumed the office of the archbishop and metropolitan of Zagreb on October 4, 1997. The same year, he was elected as the president of the Croatian Conference of Bishops. In 2002, he was re-elected as president of the CCB. In 1998, as the archbishop of Zagreb and president of the CCB, he welcomed the Holy Father to Zagreb on his second apostolic visit to Croatia, and in Marija Bistrica asked the Holy Father to proclaim Alojzije Stepinac a beatus during the beatification ceremony. On the feast of the Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, February 10, 2002, he announced the Second Archdiocesan Synod and commenced preparations.

He participated in Rome at both Special Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops for Europe in 1991 and 1999. He was elected at the Second Synod and confirmed by Pope John Paul II as a member of the Special Assembly for Europe at the Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops Rome. In 2001, he was chosen to serve as the first vice president of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences. He is a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments and the Pontifical Council for the Laity.