EUROPE/BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA - Appointment of National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) – Card. Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, on 28 February 2011, appointed as National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies of Bosnia-Herzegovina for the period 2011-2016, Fr Ivan Stironja, from the clergy of the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno.
The new National Director was born on 10 May 1960 in Pjesivac, in the Diocese of Trebinje-Marcana (Herzegovina). After primary school, he attended the Minor Seminary of Dubrovnik, then after serving his military service in Croatia, he studied philosophy and theology in Sarajevo. He was ordained a priest in Mostar on 29 June 1986. After a year of priestly ministry in a parish in Herzegovina, he went to London to prepare for missionary service which he carried out in Tanzania (1988-1992) and in Canada (1992-1996) as the parish priest of the Croat parish in Oakville, Hamilton. After specialising in liturgy in Padova, Italy (1996-1998), he held the following roles:parish priest of the Cathedral of Mostar (1998), Dean of the deanery of Mostar (1998-2002), diocesan Director for Missions (from 1999 to today), pastoral vicar for the Diocese of Herzegovina (from 2002 to today), responsible for the liturgical column (1998-2006) and the column on Evangelisation of Peoples (2007 to today) in the diocesan paper “Crkva na Kamenu”. He has been the promotor of various initiatives in support of missions and missionaries in Croatia. He writes the monthly missionary report of the Episcopal Conferences of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and is a member of several diocesan bodies. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 17/03/2011)