Zagreb, (IKA) – Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Msgr. Slavomir Miklovš from the office of the pastoral administration of the Križevci Eparchy for Catholics of the Byzantine-Slavic Rite, which was submitted to him by Msgr. Miklovš in compliance with Can. 201 § 1 of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, and has appointed the Most Reverend Nikola Kekić, heretofore the pastor of the co-cathedral of SS. Cyril and Methodius, as the bishop of the Križevci Eparchy for Catholics of the Byzantine-Slavic Rite, as procalimed on Monday, May 25, 2009, at 12 noon in the Vatican, and announced by the Apostolic Nunciature in the Republic of Croatia. The Apostolic Nunciature also announced that Msgr. Miklovš will continue to administer the Križevci Eparchy in the capacity of the apostolic administrator sede vacante until the installation of Msgr. Kekić’s as bishop.

The rector of the Seminary of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Zagreb, Nikola N. Kekić, was born on January 18, 1943 in the village of Stari Grad, Žumberak. Upon the completion of his studies in Rome, he was ordained a priest by Bishop (Vladika) Gabrijel Bukatko of Križevci on November 1, 1970, in the Parish of SS. Peter and Paul, Sošice, Žumberak. In December of the same year, he was entrusted with the administration of the Parish of SS. Peter and Paul in Mrzlo Polje, Žumberak. In 1977, he returned to Rome, where he pursued postgraduate studies in Church history at the Pontifical Oriental Institute, earning a master’s degree. Upon returning from Rome, for a short time he administered the Greek Catholic Religious Center in Karlovac. In October 1984, he was appointed as the deputy rector of the Greek Catholic Seminary and on July 1, 1990, was appointed rector of the same institution. In December 1984, he became the administrator of the Parish of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Zagreb. Since 1988, he has served as the dean of the Cathedral Deanery of the Križevci Eparchy and since 2003 has been an advisor to the vladika of Križevci. For years, he also served as the archivist of the Križevci Eparchy. Since 1999, he has been the editor of Žumberački krijes, a publication for the Croats of Žumberak throughout Croatia and other countries, where he published numerous articles about the history of the Križevci Eparchy and Žumberak. Since September 1998, he has hosted a program on Radio Marija about the Greek Catholic heritage and is the organizer of all the radio and television broadcasts of the liturgy from Greek Catholic churches in Croatia.

Bishop Slavomir Miklovš was born on May 16, 1934 in Ðurđevo to Simeon and Verona Miklovš.
He attended secondary school in Rijeka and Pazin, and graduated from the Catholic School of Theology in Zagreb.
On July 7, 1964, he was ordained a priest in Ðurđevo. He served as a parochial vicar from 1964 to 1968 and as a parish administrator from 1968 to 1969. He was the chancellor of the Križevci Eparchy from 1969 to 1983 and the financial officer of the Križevci Eparchy from 1974 to 1983. From 1969 to 1983 he was the spiritual advisor of the Eastern Rite Seminary in Zagreb, and from 1968 to 1983 served as the director for spiritual callings of the Križevci Eparchy. He was appointed as a bishop (vladika) on January 22, 1983, ordained a bishop on March 25, 1983, and installed as the vladika of Križevci on May 21, 1983.
Msgr. Miklovš is a member of the Episcopal Commission for Caritas of the Croatian Conference of Bishops.