The Holy Father has appointed as auxiliary bishop of the archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek, Croatia, the Rev. Mons. Ivan Ćurić, of the clergy of the same ecclesiastical district and vicar general, assigning him the titular see of Tela, the Vatican announced March 11, 2019.
Msgr. Ivan Ćurić was born on December 1, 1964, in Slavonski Brod, in the diocese of Đakovo and Srijem, in the present-day Archdiocese of Đakovo-Osijek. After elementary school in 1979, he entered the minor seminary of Zagreb and Đakovo. Following his military service, from 1984 he carried out his philosophical and theological studies at the Higher Institute of Theology in Đakovo, and from 1987 he continued at the Pontifical Gregorian University as a student of the Pontifical Germanic-Hungarian College.
He was ordained a priest in Đakovo on June 29, 1990. He continued his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University obtaining a licentiate in philosophy in 1991. After a short period as deputy pastor in Osijek, he became prefect of the major seminary and professor of philosophy in Đakovo. In 1993 he resumed his studies in Rome as a student of the Pontifical Croatian College of Saint Jerome.
After returning to the diocese he held the following positions: vice rector of the major seminary in Đakovo (1996-2007); philosophy teacher in the Higher Institute of Theology, now Faculty of Theology, in Đakovo (1996-2012); head of the diocesan press office (2002-2007); parish priest at Slavonski Brod-Brodski Varoš (2007-2011) and vicar forane of the Slavonski Brod deanery (2010-2011); and rector of the major seminary in Đakovo (2011-2013). In 2012 he was named Chaplain of His Holiness. Since 2011 he has been a member of the presbyteral council and, since 2013, of the college of consultors.
He is currently vicar general (since 2013) and canon of the metropolitan chapter of Đakovo-Osijek (since 2014).
