Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Ivo Martinović as the Bishop of Požega

Msgr. Antun Škvorčević (77) was the first bishop of the Diocese of Požega, which St. Pope John Paul II established on July 5, 1997. As Bishop Škvorčević had reached the canonical age for retirement, his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis.

Bishop Škvorčević will be succeeded by the former minister of the Province of the Croatian Glagolitic Franciscans of the Third Order, Msgr. Ivo Martinović.

During of the announcement of the appointment in Požega, Bishop Škvorčević, on behalf of the entire Diocese of Požega, declared that the new bishop is being received “with open hearts, full of respect for his person and the office entrusted to him, ready to collaborate with him in the joint mission of proclaiming the good news of Jesus and the building of the community of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church in our Diocese of Požega.”

He added that they are united with him in prayer “for God to bless all his pastoral efforts through the intercession of St. Lawrence, the patron of our diocese; Blessed Alojzije Stepinac, the second patron of the diocese; St. John Paul II, the founder of the diocese; and St. Teresa of Avila, patroness of the cathedral.”

The announcement of the appointment of the new bishop of Požega took place on the twenty-second anniversary of the death of Servant of God Cardinal Franjo Kuharić, who led the celebration of the establishment of the Diocese of Požega, the consecration of the cathedral and the episcopal ordination of Msgr. Škvorčević twenty-seven years ago.

From Zagreb, at the headquarters of the Province of the Croatian Glagolitic Franciscans of the Third Order, Bishop-Designate Martinović prayed to God for Cardinal Kuharić to be “a role model in faith and love for God, the Church, our Croatian nation and every person.”

“Pope Francis and the Church are sending me today to the Diocese of Požega, to you who had been on the periphery of my life and journey as a priest and Franciscan. From today on, you are not on the periphery of my life but in the center of my heart, prayers, vocation and mission. Through God’s providence, my spiritual vocation and life’s journey as a priest and pastor in the Church will continue with you, to whom I come primarily as a brother of Christ Jesus and as a pupil who is prepared to learn but also as a pastor and teacher to whom God has entrusted the duty of proclaiming the gospel and caring for the flock assigned to him,” said the Bishop-Designate of Požega.

Mons. Ivo Martinović was born on June 28, 1965, in Županja.  He grew up in the Parish of Tolisa in Bosnia and Herzegovina, completing the lower grades of elementary school in Matići and the higher grades in neighboring Oštra Luka.

In 1980, he was admitted to the seminary of the Croatian Glagoltic Franciscans of the Third Order. He completed his classical secondary school education at the Interdiocesan Secondary School for the Preparation of Priests in Zagreb and then studied philosophy and theology at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb. In 2011, he was awarded a licentiate in pastoral theology from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome.

On October 4, 1990, the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, he made his solemn vows in Zagreb at the headquarters of the Province of the Croatian Glagolitic Franciscans of the Third Order. He was ordained a deacon on October 13, 1991, and a priest on June 28, 1992, also in Zagreb.

He held various offices in the province, including two terms as the provincial minister that began in 2017.

Besides Croatian, he speaks Italian and German.