Zagreb, April 15, 1999 (IKA) – Retired Archbishop Cardinal Franjo Kuharić of Zagreb celebrates his 80th birthday on Thursday, April 15.
Cardinal Franjo Kuharić was born on April 15, 1919 in Pribić near Krašić, the youngest of the thirteen children of Ivan and Ana (née Blažić) Kuharić. He attended elementary school in his native village. From 1931 to 1939, he attended the archdiocesan classical gymnasium on Šalata in Zagreb, from which he graduated. From 1939 to 1945, he studied philosophy and theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty in Zagreb. He was ordained as a priest on July 15, 1945 by the Blessed Archbishop Alojzije Stepinac of Zagreb. For ten months, he was the parochial vicar in the parish of Radoboj. From 1946 to 1957, he was the head of two parishes: Rakov potok and sv. Martin pod Okićem. For a time, he was also head of a third parish, Sv. Marija Okićka, due to a shortage of priests. From 1957 to 1964, he was the parish priest in the municipal parish of Samobor. Even as a theology student and young priest, his articles in the Catholic press attracted attention. On February 15, 1964, he was appointed as auxiliary bishop of the Zagreb Archdiocese by Dr. Franjo Šeper and was ordained as bishop on May 3, 1964. After the departure of His Eminence Cardinal Šeper for Rome to serve as the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1969, Bishop Kuharić was appointed as the apostolic administrator of the Zagreb Archdiocese. On June 16, 1970, he was appointed as the archbishop of Zagreb. In September of the same year, he was chosen to serve as president of the Bishops#! Conference of Yugoslavia, with a mandate of five years. He was subsequently elected to serve second, third and fourth five-year mandates in this position. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, the archbishop of the capital city of Croatia and the Croatian Metropolitan Archdiocese was ipso facto the president of the Bishops#! Conference. In 1970, he received an honorary doctorate of theology from the Catholic Theological Faculty in Zagreb. That year, he was also named an honorary member of the International Pontifical Marian Academy. In 1974, a book of his letters and instructions to priests entitled Hodajmo u istini [Let Us Walk in Truth] was published. In 1986, a book of his pastoral letters and messages entitled Hodajmo u istini, II. dio [Let Us Walk in Truth, Part Two] was published. At the consistory of February 2, 1983, His Holiness Pope John Paul II made Franjo Kuharić a cardinal of the Holy Roman Church. He is a member of the Congregation for the Clergy, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, and the Roman Commission of SS. Cyril and Methodius. Cardinal Kuharić retired on July 5, 1997 and relinquished his office of archbishop on October 4, 1997.
Since retirement, Cardinal Franjo Kuharić has remained very active in pastoral work, often attending various gatherings of the faithful, particularly of the young. Radio Slijeme broadcasts the cardinal#!s spiritual reflections. On April 10, the cardinal made a guest appearance on a radio program for young people, Šalabahter, broadcast by Croatian Catholic Radio, during which he responded to listeners#! questions. The cardinal likes to say that he is at the disposal of his archbishop, to the extent of his abilities, as one of the auxiliary bishops.