Želimir Puljić (7 March 1947) is a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the archbishop of Zadar from 2010 to 2023 and bishop of Dubrovnik from 1989 to 2010. He briefly served as the apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Split-Makarska in 2023.
Early life and education
Puljic attended primary school in Blagaj and Mostar and finished school in Pozega, where his parents moved. From 1962 to 1966 he attended classical high school at the Diocesan Seminary in Dubrovnik. From 1966 to 1970 he studied theology in Split and continued his studies in Rome at the Pontifical Urbaniana University. In 1978 he received a diploma in Pastoral Theology from the Lateran University. In addition to his theological studies, he graduated from the Faculty of Pedagogy at the Salesian University of Rome, where he received his doctorate on 12 March 1980.[2]
Priesthood
Ordained to the priesthood on 24 March 1974, for the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, Puljić was appointed Bishop Dubrovnik on 7 December 1989 and was ordained into that office on 14 January 1990. Bishop Puljić became the archbishop of Zadar on 15 March 2010.[1]
In October 2010, Archbishop Puljić, following up on the wish of his predecessor, conveyed a small silver reliquary containing a portion of the relics of Saint Simeon to Archbishop Theofylactus of Jordan, representative of Theophilos III, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, for the monastery of Saint Simeon the Godbearer in Katamon, Jerusalem.[3] It is popularly believed that the relics of Saint Simeon, one of the patron saints of Zadar, lie in the Church of Saint Simeon, in Zadar.
On 14 January 2023, the Apostolic Nunciature announced that the Pope accepted Puljić's renunciation from the service and appointed Milan Zgrablić his successor.
Memberships
Puljić served in various capacities in the Croatian Bishops' Conference. He was a member of the Permanent Council of the HBK from 1996 to 2002, president of the Family Council from 199 to 1998, member of the Commission for the Croatian Institute of St. Jerome in Rome from 1997 to 2002, member of the Commission for the Regulation of Relations with the State from 1996 to 2002, and president of the HBK from 1999 to 2002.[2]
He was also president of the HBK Council for Culture and Church Heritage, president of the HBK and BC BiH Council for Croatian Foreign Pesti and a member of the HBK Episcopal Commission for Relations with the European Union.[2]
