Marko Culej

Monsignor Marko Culej was born on January 19, 1938, in Repno, Zlatar, Croatia, and was ordained to the priesthood, at the age of 26, on April 24, 1964. Chaplain in Samobor, pastor of Deseniè from 1965 till 1981, he rebuilt the church facilities, led by Dominican Nuns. Dean of the deanery of Taborskog and delegate to the Council of Priests of the Archdiocese of Zagreb between 1970 and 1977, Archbishop Franjo Kuharic named him vice-rector of the Theological Seminary in Zagreb in 1981. Appointed canon of the Chapter of the Cathedral in Zagreb in 1986, and director of vocations for the Archdiocese of Zagreb in 1987, he became archdeacon of the named Chapter. Aged 54, Culej was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Zagreb, Croatia, receiving his episcopal consecration with the Titular See of Limata, on February 22, 1992, from Cardinal Franjo Kuharic, assisted by Bishops Djuro Kokša and Juraj Jezerinac. When the Diocese of Varaždin was erected on July 5, 1997, Msgr. Culej was named as its First Bishop. He passed unexpectedly away, on Saturday, August 19, 2006, aged 68.