Servant of God Franjo Kuharić | |
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| Cardinal, Archbishop Emeritus of Zagreb | |
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| Church | Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Zagreb |
| See | Zagreb |
| Appointed | 16 June 1970 |
| Term ended | 5 July 1997 |
| Predecessor | Franjo Šeper |
| Successor | Josip Bozanić |
| Other post | Cardinal-Priest of San Girolamo dei Croati (1983–2002) |
| Previous posts |
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| Orders | |
| Ordination | 15 July 1945 by Alojzije Viktor Stepinac |
| Consecration | 3 May 1964 by Franjo Šeper |
| Created cardinal | 2 February 1983 byPope John Paul II |
| Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Franjo Kuharić (1919-04-19)19 April 1919 |
| Died | 11 March 2002(2002-03-11) (aged 82) |
| Buried | Zagreb Cathedral |
| Alma mater | University of Zagreb |
| Motto | Deus caritas est ("God is love") |
| Styles of Franjo Kuharić | |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Zagreb (Emeritus) |
Ordination history of Franjo Kuharić | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Franjo Kuharić (15 April 1919 – 11 March 2002) was aCroatian Catholic prelate who served asArchbishop of Zagreb from 1970 until his resignation in 1997.[1] Made acardinal in 1983, he was known as the "Rock of Croatia"[2] because of his defense of human rights and urgings of peace and forgiveness during theindependence conflict and theBosnian War.[3][4]
Kuharić was a vocal supporter of the cause for the canonization of CardinalAlojzije Stepinac (who hadordained him as apriest in 1945[1]). He worked to rehabilitate the image of the cardinal during hisepiscopate, eventually leading to Stepinac's 1998 beatification inZagreb.[2][4]
Kuharić's own cause for canonization commenced on 11 March 2012 and he has been titled as aServant of God.[1][4]
Franjo Kuharić was born on 15 April 1919 inPribić[5] as the thirteenth and final child born to his poor parents Ivan Kuharić and Ana Blažić.
In 1934, he began his theological and philosophical education at the archdiocesan classical lyceum inZagreb, and continued atthe college.[5] His education was completed in 1945. He received his solemnordination to the priesthood in mid-1945 in theZagreb Cathedral fromAlojzije Stepinac and began his pastoral work in Zagreb from 1945 until 1964.[1] His first pastoral assignment after his ordination was to serve as a chaplain in small villages surrounding Zagreb before Stepinac sent him as a pastor to the Radoboj village.[4]
In 1964 Kuharić became one of the archdiocese's auxiliary bishops and was named Titular Bishop of Meta. He received hisepiscopal consecration as a bishop in mid-1964 fromFranjo Šeper in the archdiocesan cathedral.[5] In 1964 and in 1965 he attended – as a bishop – the last two sessions of theSecond Vatican Council as a Council Father. In 1969 he was made the apostolic administrator for the archdiocese after Cardinal Šeper was summoned toRome to assume a new position which put Kuharić in charge of the archdiocese as its interim head. The decisive moment in his episcopate came in 1970 – ending the interim administration – afterPope Paul VI named Kuharić as the newestArchbishop of Zagreb.[1] It was following his appointment that hisalma mater awarded him a doctorate in 1970.[4] Kuharić also served as thePresident of the Yugoslavian Episcopal Conference from 1970 until 1993 when the conference was abolished in light of the creation ofa Croatian conference; he led that from its inception until 1997. The next decisive moment came in 1983 afterPope John Paul II elevated him into thecardinalate as theCardinal-Priest of San Girolamo dei Croati. He retired from his see after over two decades of service in mid-1997 and soon after lost the right to participate in a future papal conclave after he turned 80 in 1999.[1]
In 1991 theconflict over independence broke out and Kuharić pleaded for peace and forgiveness on both sides while asking both sides to negotiate for the good of the nation. He reiterated the same thing during theBosnian War later that decade.[3] The cardinal also criticized the corruption of the government of PresidentFranjo Tuđman though the cardinal's opponents charged that the latter was too close to some of the president's allies.[3][2]
The cardinal hosted John Paul II in the archdiocese upon the latter's 1994 visit and also hosted the pope once more in 1998 for the beatification of Cardinal Stepinac.[2] He made a range of international trips to visit overseas Croatian Catholics. His first such visit was to both theUnited States of America andCanada from 14 October to 22 November 1970. He made one visit toSouth America as well as two toSouth Africa and three toAustralia. He made eight visits in total to both the United States in Canada (the 1970 trip being the first).[4]
Kuharić had been ill for some time before he died at 4:20am on 11 March 2002 in Zagreb in the archdiocesan palace due tocardiac arrest (according to theapostolic nuncioGiulio Einaudi);[2] his funeral was celebrated on 14 March and remains were interred in the metropolitan cathedral and rests close to the tombs of his two immediate predecessors.[4] John Paul II – in a telegram of condolence – said that "he gave consistent witness of Christ" through his actions and set about "infusing confidence and courage in the faithful" during times of struggle.[2] PresidentStjepan Mesić – in a letter to the Zagreb archdiocese – said that "he preached peace" as a central message of his episcopal life.
In 1998 he was honored with theGrand Order of Queen Jelena.[1]
Kuharić's successor –Josip Bozanić – announced that the cause for his predecessor's beatification would be opened in the archdiocese; this process opened a decade following the cardinal's death on 11 March 2012.
The first and currentpostulator for this cause isMonsignor Juraj Batelja.
Kuharić was vocal regarding thestatus of Medjugorje and once declared that "we therefore leave this aspect for further investigation. The Church is in no hurry".[6] The cardinal said that the Croatian Episcopal Conference deemed "Medjugorje as a holy place, as a shrine" though said further research was needed to make a full decision regarding Medjugorje's status.[6]
The cardinal was open to dialogue with other faiths and was receptive to meeting with interfaith leaders during his episcopal tenure. He met several times with thePatriarch Pavle from theSerbian Orthodox Church to discuss ongoing relations between the two Churches.[3]
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| Preceded by | Archbishop of Zagreb 16 June 1970–5 July 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Cardinal-Priest of San Girolamo dei Croati 2 February 1983-11 March 2002 | |
| Preceded by None | President of the Croatian Episcopal Conference 15 May 1993-5 July 1997 | |
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