Petar Palić

Petar Palić (born 3 July 1972) is a Catholic prelate who is currently the bishop of Mostar-Duvno and apostolic administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan since 2020.


Petar Palić
Bishop of Mostar-Duvno
Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan
Apostolic Administrator of Hvar-Brač-Vis
Palić in Skopje, September 2019
ChurchCatholic Church
DioceseMostar-Duvno
Trebinje-Mrkan
Appointed11 July 2020
PredecessorRatko Perić
Other postsVicar General of Diocese of Dubrovnik (201117)
Secretary General of the Episcopal Conference of Croatia (201720)
Bishop of Hvar-Brač-Vis (201820)
Orders
Ordination1 June 1996
by Petar Čule
Consecration30 April 2018
by Želimir Puljić
Personal details
Born (1972-07-03) 3 July 1972
Pristina, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
DenominationCatholic
ResidenceBishop's Ordinariate, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Alma materUniversity of Graz
University of Zagreb
MottoNa tvoju riječ (At Thy word)
Coat of arms

Palić descends from the Kosovo Croat family, being born in Priština. After the graduation from the Faculty of Catholic Theology in Zagreb in 1995, Palić was ordained a priest in 1996 and held various pastoral and administrative posts in the Diocese of Dubrovnik. He was bishop of the Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis from 2018 to 2020.

Early life

Petar Palić was born into a Kosovo Croat Catholic family in Priština in present-day Kosovo. His father Anton and mother Zora (née Gucić) were from Janjevo. At the time of his birth, his family lived in Ajvalija near Priština. In 1978, his family returned to Janjevo. Palić has four younger brothers: Nikola, Zdravko, Branko and Leopold. Palić attended elementary school there from 1978 to 1986. Afterwards, he attended a seminary in Skopje (in present-day North Macedonia) from 1986 to 1988, and later in Subotica (in present-day Serbia) from 1988 to 1990, when he graduated. He enrolled at the Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb in 1990 and graduated in 1995. His father died in 1994, and his mother moved with him in Zagreb, Croatia in 1995, where his brothers were also living.[1]

Priest

Palić was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Dubrovnik in Granešina, Zagreb on 1 June 1996. His priestly motto was a sentence from Psalm 23 "Though I pass through a gloomy Valley, beside me your rod and your staff are there, to hearten me." After the ordination, Palić briefly worked as a high school catechist and later held various pastoral administrative posts in the Diocese of Dubrovnik. He was named head of the Catechetical Office of the Diocese of Dubrovnik in 1996, a position he held until 2005. At the same time, from 1995 to 2005 he was a personal secretary to the bishop of Dubrovnik. In 1999 he was appointed a director of the Institute for the Maintenance of Clergy and Other Church Officials, where he served until 2017.[1]

Bishop Želimir Puljić sent him to the Karl-Franzens University in Graz, Austria to study moral theology in 2005, where he earned a doctorate with the thesis "For the culture of life: The commitment of the Church in Croatia to the culture of life, based on the encyclical the Gospel of Life from 1995 to 2005". During his studies, bishop Egon Kapellari of the Diocese of Graz-Seckau entrusted him the parish of Dobl, where Palić served as a vicar until 2008. In 2009, the bishop of Dubrovnik allowed him to stay at the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome to study the Italian language.[1]

Between 2009 and 2011 Palić served as a bishop's vicar for pastoral care, and later as a general vicar between 2011 and 2017. On 25 January 2017, he was elected secretary-general of the Episcopal Conference of Croatia.[1]

Bishop

On 9 March 2018, Pope Francis appointed him as bishop of the Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis. On 30 April 2018, he was consecrated as a bishop by Archbishop Želimir Puljić of Zadar with Bishop Emeritus Slobodan Štambuk of Hvar-Brač-Vis and Bishop Mate Uzinić of Dubrovnik serving as co-consecrators. Palić thus became the first Kosovo Croat to become a bishop.[2]

On 11 July 2020, Bishop Petar was appointed the ordinariate of Mostar-Duvno and Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan. He was installed as bishop of the two Herzegovinian dioceses on 14 September. However, he continued to administer his previous Diocese of Hvar-Brač-Vis.[3]

Herzegovina Affair

Palić stated that his position on the dispute between the Franciscan Province of Herzegovina and the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno known as Herzegovina Affair cannot be different from that of the Catholic Church. Palić said in an interview from September 2020, commenting on the issue, that the Church "is not a self-proclaimed organisation of like-minded people nor a volunteer society of sympathizers led by a certain interest, in which anyone does what they think and want", instead, Palić emphasised that the Church is "a communion of christened, established by Christ, under the guidance of Pope and the bishop". Palić further stated that he is grateful to his predecessor Ratko Perić on everything he has done for the two Herzegovinian dioceses and the Church as a whole.[4]

Medjugorje phenomenon

Palić visited Medjugorje prior to becoming a bishop of Mostar-Duvno motivated by curiosity and friendly contacts there. In an interview from September 2020, Palić emphasised that the revelation ended with the death of the last apostle and after Jesus' end of earthly life. He further stated that "it is not necessary to expect some new revelation that would relate to the fundamental human condition in the connection to salvation and redemption".[4]

On 8 December 2020, Bishop Palić celebrated a mass in Medjugorje, along with Apostolic Visitator Archbishop Henryk Hoser and the parish priest, friar Marinko Šakota, and several other priests. He was invited to celebrate a mass by Hoser. Palić emphasised that his arrival to Medjugorje shouldn't be interpreted as a recognition of the alleged apparitions and that the Catholic Church doesn't recognise the alleged apparitions as authentic.[5]

Personal life

Beside his native Croatian, Palić speaks five other languages: English, German, Italian, Macedonian and Russian.[6]

Notes

  1. KTA.
  2. Ugrin 2018.
  3. Pavičić (a).
  4. Pavičić (b).
  5. IKA.
  6. Vecernji.

References

News articles

  • "Biskup Palić predvodio slavlje Bezgrešne u Međugorju". Informativna katolička agencija. Zagreb. 8 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  • Pavičić, Darko (15 September 2020). "Mons. Petar Palić ekskluzivno za Večernji: Međugorju treba pristupiti smireno i stručno". Večernji list. Zagreb. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  • Pavičić, Darko (5 November 2020). "Koadjutorima "u sjeni" Vatikan umirovljuje nadbiskupe prije vremena". Večernji list. Zagreb. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  • Ugrin, Ivan (30 April 2018). "Zaređen novi hvarski biskup: Petar Palić postao prvi hrvatski Janjevac uzdignut na tu službu". Slobodna Dalmacija. Split. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Slobodan Štambuk
Bishop of Hvar-Brač-Vis
20182020
Succeeded by
TBD
Preceded by
Ratko Perić
Bishop of Mostar-Duvno
2020present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Ratko Perić
Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan
2020present
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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