Nikola Kekic

Nikola Kekić's coat of arms

Nikola Kekić or Nino Kekić (born January 18, 1943 in Stari Grad Žumberački , Yugoslavia ) is a Croatian clergyman and emeritus bishop of the Greek Catholic Diocese of Križevci .

Life

Childhood and school education

Nikola Kekić was born in 1943 in the village of Stari Grad Žumberački in the Croatian part of Žumberak . Kekić was baptized in the Greek Catholic Church of Peter and Paul in Mrzlo Polje . Nikola Kekić spent primary school in Sošice and Ilok . From September 1, 1956, his four-year schooling first took place in the Greek-Catholic seminary in Zagreb with a visit to the local classical grammar school. The school education continued for another four years in the zagreber Franciscan order , where he obtained his Matura in 1963 .

Education

From September 23, 1963 to March 10, 1965, Kekić did his military service in Yugoslavia. In the same year Nikola Kekić begins studying theological and philosophical studies at the Catholic Faculty in Zagreb. The Episcopal Ordinariate of the Diocese of Križevci gave him permission in 1967 to continue his studies at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome . During his studies, Kekić also attended the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Pontifical College of St. Josaphat in Rome.

ordination

Nikola Kekić was on November 1, 1970, through the Greek Catholic bishop of Križevci, Gabrijel Bukatko , Catholic Greek in the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Sošice for priests ordained . In December 1970 he was entrusted with the pastoral management of the Greek Catholic parish of St. Peter and Paul in Mrzlo Polje. This was followed in December 1972 by the appointment of director of the "Greek Catholic Center" in Karlovac . Kekić continued his pastoral activities temporarily in the Greek Catholic parishes " Annunciation of the Lord " in Pribić and " Assumption of Mary " in Pećno .

Further study

From 1977 Nikola Kekić stayed again in Rome. He attended the Pontifical Croatian College of Saint Jerome in Rome and continued his studies in church history at the Pontifical Oriental Institute , completing it with the academic degree of a master's degree .

return

After returning from Rome, Kekić was again head of the "Greek Catholic Center" in Karlovac. From November 1984 he was appointed Vice Rector of the Greek Catholic Seminary in Zagreb, where Kekić took over as Rector on July 1, 1990. From December 1, 1984, by decree of the Križevci diocese , he became the leading pastor in the Greek-Catholic parish of Cyril and Methodius , also in Zagreb . Nikola Kekić was the leading dean of the dean's office of the Diocese of Križevci since December 1st, 1988 .

From December 8, 2003 Kekić took over the duties of a consultator for the Bishop of Križevci Slavomir Miklovš , at the same time he was a member of the Presbyter and Liturgy Council of the Diocese of Križevci. For years Nikola Kekić has been entrusted with the duties of church archivist in the diocese of Križevci. Since September 1998 Nikola Kekić has directed the program “From the legacy of the Greek-Catholic Christians” on the Catholic radio station “Radio Maria”, and he was also the organizer of all radio and television broadcasts of Greek-Catholic church services in Croatia. In 1999, Kekić became the chief editor and publisher of the Greek Catholic church newspaper "Žumberački Krijes". Nikola Kekić speaks Croatian, Italian, Ukrainian and German in addition to his mother tongue.

Pope Benedict XVI appointed Nikola Kekić on May 25, 2009 as Bishop of Križevci. The episcopal ordination took place on July 4th, 2009 in the Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Križevci . The main consecrator was the emeritus bishop of Križevci Slavomir Miklovš. Co-consecrators were the Apostolic Nuncio in Croatia, Mario Roberto Cassari , and Josip Cardinal Bozanić .

On March 18, 2019, Pope Francis accepted Nikola Kekić's resignation due to reasons of age.

Web links

• Biography on the diocese website (German)
• Biography (Croatian)
• Kurzbiografie (English)
• Entry on Nikola Kekić on catholic-hierarchy.org

Individual evidence

1. ^ Slobodna Dalmacija , accessed May 25, 2009.
2. ↑ "www.mojzumberak.com" ( memento of the original from November 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed May 25, 2009. 
3. ↑ Appointment as Bishop of Križevci , accessed on May 25, 2009.
4. ↑ Nikola Kekić's episcopal consecration in Križevci  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed August 9, 2009.  
5. ↑ rinuncia del Vescovo di dell'Eparchia Križevci per i fedeli di rito bizantino (Croazia) e nomina dell'Amministratore Apostolico sede vacante della medesima Eparchia. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , March 18, 2019, accessed March 18, 2019 (Italian). 

predecessor	Office	successor
Slavomir Miklovš	Bishop of Križevci 2009–2019	NN