Province Rijeka Nationality Croat Ordination 29 June 1993 | Appointed 14 June 2012 Diocese Porec and Pula Name Drazen Kutlesa | |
Consecration 10 December 2011
by Marc Ouellet Born 25 September 1968 (age 55)
Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina ( 1968-09-25 ) | ||
Dražen Kutleša (born 25 September 1968) is the current bishop of Poreč and Pula in Croatia.
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Early life and education
Dražen Kutleša was born on 25 September 1968 in Tomislavgrad, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He attended primary school in Prisoje (1975–1983), minor seminary in Dubrovnik (1983–1987), and major seminary in Sarajevo (1987–1992). Kutleša spent the last year of seminary (1992–1993) in Bol, where the Sarajevo Seminary was dislocated during the war.
Priesthood
Dražen Kutleša was ordained deacon in Bol, on 13 March 1993 by bishop Pavao Žanić, who also ordained him a priest for the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, in his native Prisoje, on 29 June 1993. Rev. Kutleša was then, for two years, parish vicar at the Mostar Cathedral.
In 1995 he went to Rome to study Canon law at Pontifical Urbaniana University, and obtained Master's degree in 1997 with thesis I rapporti tra il Vescovo diocesano e i Religiosi nell'attività apostolica della Diocesi secondo il C.I.C. (cann. 678-683) (Relations between the Diocesan Bishop and the Religious in apostolic activity within the Diocese according to the Code of Canon Law (cann. 678-683)). He obtained doctorate in Canon law, at the same University, in 2001, with thesis Il Triangolo: i Frati Francescani OFM, il Vescovo diocesano e il Clero diocesano nella Diocesi di Mostar-Duvno dal 1881 al 1975 alla luce dei cinque più importanti documenti (The Triangle: The Franciscans OFM, the Diocesan Bishop and the Diocesan clergy of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno from 1881 to 1975 in the light of the five most important documents).
In the years 1998-2006 he had the following assignments: Parish Administrator of Grude, docent of Canon law at the Theological institute of Mostar, vice-chancellor of the Diocesan Curia of Mostar-Duvno, member of the College of consultors and of the Presbyterial council, member of the Iustitia et pax Council of the Episcopal conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
In 2006 Kutleša was named official of the Congregation for Bishops in Rome. Since 2011 he was also collaborator at the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
On 13 May 2011, he was named Chaplain of His Holiness, with the title of monisgnor.
Episcopate
On 17 October 2011, Pope Benedict XVI named Mons. Kutleša coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Poreč and Pula in Croatia. On 14 June 2012 his predecessor Ivan Milovan retire and he succeed to the see.