The news about the appointment of Friar Mladen Vukšić as the Bishop of Kotor was simultaneously announced in the Vatican and the Bishop’s Ordinariate in Mostar.

At the announcement of the appointment in Mostar, Msgr. Vukšić said that he was surprised and somewhat troubled. “It has brought me anxiety and a thousand questions. First of all, as I am certain that I have never in any way desired a ministry such as the one entrusted to me today. I am sure even now that there were holier and better and more prepared and more learned candidates than me. However, despite my sense of confusion and unworthiness, in the call of the Holy Father, Pope Francis, I recognize the will of God, which I want to fulfill above all and therefore accept the appointment of a Friar Minor as an invitation to serve the Church and the people of God.  In this I do not rely on my own strength but on the grace that the Lord gives to those who trust in him:  Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, the Lord will be their trust (Jer 17:7).

Friar Mladen Vukšić was born on December 28, 1965, in Ljubuški. He entered the novitiate in Humac on July 14, 1984, and on July 15, 1985, took his first vows. From August 1985 to mid-September 1986, he completed his military service in Skoplje and Kumanovo (today North Macedonia).

From 1986 to 1989, he studied theology in Makarska, Croatia, and from 1989 to 1992 in Bologna, Italy. He took his solemn vows on September 16, 1990, in Kočerin. On June 29, 1991, he was ordained a deacon in Mostar. On July 26, 1992, he was ordained a priest in Čitluk. Following his ordination, he held the office of parish vicar in Humac from 1992 to 1994. Then he went to Rome, where he earned a master’s degree at the Pontifical Salesian University in youth pastoral care and catechetics.

From 1997 to 2000, he was the master of clerics in Zagreb. From 2000 to 2003, he was the guardian of the convent and pastor of the Parish of St. Blaise in Slano. From 2003 to 2010, he was the pastor of the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Gradac (Posušje). From 2010 to 2013, he was the pastor of the Parish of SS. Peter and Paul in Kočerin. From 2013 until his episcopal appointment, he was the pastor of the Parish of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Posušje.

After the transfer of the previous Bishop of Kotor, Msgr. Ivan Štironja, to the Diocese of Poreč and Pula, and his taking over of the canonical possession of that see on March 18, 2023, Pope Francis appointed the Archbishop of Bar, Msgr. Rrok Gjonlleshaj, as the apostolic administrator of the vacant see of the Diocese of Kotor.

The Diocese of Kotor covers the area in Montenegro between the Archdiocese of Bar in the south and the Diocese of Dubrovnik in the north (Croatia). It is known for the Bay of Kotor, the birthplace of many saints and blesseds, which is why it is called the Bay of Saints. Owing to historical ties with the Croatian nation, the Diocese of Kotor belongs to the Ecclesiastical Province (Metropolis) of Split. Croats still make up the majority of Catholics in the Diocese. Bishop of Kotor is a member of the International Bishops’ Conference of SS. Cyril and Methodius, which is composed of bishops from dioceses in the territories of the Republic of Serbia, the Republic of Kosovo, Montenegro and the Republic of North Macedonia.