Family in America celebrate cousin’s rise to Archbishop of Zagreb

Ivan and Ines Kutlesa

The Kutleša family from the Chicagoland area in the Unites States are celebrating the news of their cousin’s rise in the Catholic church in Croatia. 

Pope Francis recently appointed Archbishop Dražen Kutleša as coadjutor archbishop of Zagreb. 

Kutleša, who was the metropolitan archbishop of Split-Makarska and the archbishop of Poreč-Pula prior, will formally succeed Cardinal Josip Božanić in two years to become the ninth Archbishop of Zagreb.

Husband and wife Ivan and Ines Kutleša are excited and proud back in Chicago of their cousin who will be a future cardinal of the Catholic church.

“We are very excited, proud and blessed about the extraordinary news that Pope Francis named our cousin Monsignor Dražen Kutleša as the Archbishop of Zagreb, our beautiful capital of Croatia,” the Kutleša’s tells us,

Whilst excited, it is not surprising as the village of Prisoje in Tomislavgrad, where both Ivan and Dražen Kutlesa are from, has produced 19 priests and nuns who are currently serving the Catholic church. Ines’s uncle also happens to be a priest.

“One priest was a missionary in Africa for 50 years, and another, currently ordained as Deacon, was a Swiss Guard to Pope Benedict and Pope Francis, is only in his twenties, and will be ordained a priest this month in Switzerland. We also had a cloistered nun in the family,” they say, adding that the village of Prisoje is known colloquially as “Little Vatican”.

Ivan in Prisoje with his cousin Monsignor Dražen Kutleša (Photo: Private album)

Kutleša, who attended school in Dubrovnik before heading off to the College of Theology of Vrhbosna in Sarajevo, was ordained a priest of the Mostar-Duvno Diocese in 1993. 

Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Dicastery for Bishops last year when he was also elected president of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference (HBK). 

“We’ve always been good Croatian patriots and also very religious people, basically. We’ve always been a faithful flock to the Catholic church. We’ve obviously returned the favor to God for basically everything He’s given us,” Ivan concludes.

Ines & Ivan Kutlesa Dubrovnik

Both Ines and Ivan were born in the U.S. to Croatian parents and hold dual American and Croatian citizenship. Ines is the Chief Executive Officer of Guardian Angel Community Services in Joliet, whilst Ivan is the founder and President of his architect firm.  

You can find out more about Ines and Ivan in an interview we done previously here.