Priest of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno, Don Željko Majić, Appointed New Bishop of Banja Luka

(Patria) - On the feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, December 8, 2023, the Apostolic Nunciature in Bosnia and Herzegovina announced that "His Holiness Pope Francis accepted the resignation from the pastoral leadership of the Diocese of Banja Luka of the Most Reverend Franjo Komarica and appointed the new Bishop of Banja Luka, the esteemed Don Željko Majić, a priest of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno." At the same time, this news was released by the Press Office of the Holy See, reports the Catholic News Agency.

Don Željko Majić was born in Drinovci on March 28, 1963. He completed his philosophical and theological studies in Sarajevo and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno on June 29, 1988, in the Mostar Cathedral of Mary, Mother of the Church, by Bishop Pavao Žanić. He attended postgraduate studies in pastoral theology in Rome, with a stay at the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome, at the Pontifical Lateran University and obtained his master's degree in June 1995. After returning from his studies, he held several pastoral positions in Herzegovina, and was appointed vice-rector of the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome in Rome on June 17, 2006. During his six-year term, bringing together Croatian students in Rome, he prepared four collections of their works, the last three edited together with Dr. Don Božo Goluža. In 2011, his booklet of reflections "Father, Forgive Us!" was published, and he also prepared, with the collaboration of about 30 Herzegovinian priests, "A Guide Through the Year of Faith: Family – Hearth of Faith." In 2012, he was appointed vicar general of the Dioceses of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinje-Mrkan, and since 2019, he has served as the director of Caritas of the Dioceses of Mostar-Duvno and Trebinje-Mrkan.