Dražen Kutleša (pronounced [dr̩ǎʒen kǔtleʃa]; born 25 September 1968) is a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church who became Archbishop of Zagreb in April 2023 after two months as archbishop coadjutor. He was the archbishop of Split-Makarska from 2022 to 2023 after serving as bishop of Poreč and Pula from 2012 to 2020.

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The Most Reverend Dražen Kutleša
Metropolitan Archbishop of Zagreb
Church	Catholic Church
Archdiocese	Zagreb
See	Zagreb
Appointed	15 April 2023
Installed	29 April 2023
Predecessor	Josip Bozanić
Other post(s)	President of the Episcopal Conference of Croatia (2022–present) Member of the Dicastery for Bishops (2022–present)
Orders
Ordination	29 June 1993 by Pavao Žanić
Consecration	10 December 2011 by Marc Ouellet
Personal details
Born	(1968-09-25) 25 September 1968 (age 55) Duvno, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Yugoslavia
Nationality	Croat
Denomination	Catholic
Residence	Kaptol, Zagreb, Croatia
Previous post(s)	Official at the Congregation for Bishops (2006–11) Bishop Coadjutor of Poreč and Pula (2011–12) Bishop of Poreč and Pula (2012–20) Apostolic Administrator of Poreč and Pula (2020–23) Archbishop Coadjutor of Split-Makarska (2020–2022) Archbishop of Split-Makarska (2022–23) Archbishop Coadjutor of Zagreb (2023)
Alma mater	College of Theology of Vrhbosna Pontifical Urban University
Motto	U tebe se Gospodine uzdam (In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped)
Coat of arms
Ordination history
History Diaconal ordination Ordained by Pavao Žanić Date 13 March 1993 Place Bol, Croatia Priestly ordination Ordained by Pavao Žanić Date 29 June 1993 Place Prisoje, Tomislavgrad, Herzeg-Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Marc Ouellet Co-consecrators Ivan Milovan Ratko Perić Date 10 December 2011 Place Poreč, Croatia
Episcopal succession Bishops consecrated by Dražen Kutleša as principal consecrator Ferenc Fazekaš 11 November 2023

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A native of Tomislavgrad in Herzegovina (Modern Bosnia and Herzegovina), Kutleša was raised in the nearby paternal village of Prisoje, where he attended an elementary school. After deciding to become a priest and joining the seminary, he attended a high school in Dubrovnik and then the College of Theology of Vrhbosna in Sarajevo beginning in 1987. He graduated in 1993 after spending his final academic year in Bol due to war. The same year, he was ordained as a deacon and a priest and served for two years as a chaplain in Mostar. He continued his education in 1995 at the Pontifical Urban University, studying canon law, eventually earning his PhD in 2001. From 2000, he served as the secretary of the bishop of Mostar-Duvno, and from 2003, he was a parish administrator in Grude and a lecturer of law at the Theological Institute of Mostar. In 2006, Kutleša became a member of the Congregation for Bishops and in 2011, an associate of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. The same year, he was appointed as the bishop coadjutor of Poreč and Pula; after the resignation of Ivan Milovan in 2012, he became the bishop. He served there for eight years until 2020 when he was appointed the archbishop coadjutor of Split-Makarska. In 2022, Kutleša succeeded Marin Barišić as the archbishop of Split-Makarska, became a member of the Dicastery for Bishops, and was elected as the president of the Episcopal Conference of Croatia. Serving as the archbishop of Split-Makarska for only ten months, Kutleša was appointed the archbishop coadjutor of Zagreb in 2023 and succeeded Josip Bozanić that year.

Dražen Kutleša was born in Duvno, present-day Tomislavgrad, in SFJY (now Bosnia and Herzegovina), to father Krešo and mother Danica née Ćurić, both from the village of Prisoje. Because his father was, like many men from his region, a gastarbeiter (guest worker) in Austria and West Germany, Dražen and his brother Grgo were raised by their mother.^[1] He was christened in the village church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.^[1] Known as a lively child,^[1] he attended the village elementary school from 1975 to 1983.^[2] His mother initially opposed his decision to become a priest.^[1] Nevertheless, Bishop Pavao Žanić accepted him into the seminary and sent him to Ruđer Bošković Gymnasium in Dubrovnik, where he studied from 1983 until graduation in June 1987. In 1987, Kutleša enrolled at the College of Theology of Vrhbosna in Sarajevo, spending his last academic year of 1992–93 in Bol on the isle of Brač. At the time, the College of Theology of Vrhbosna was a branch of the Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb. He graduated with the thesis Od konstitucije 'Romanos Pontifices' (1881.) do dekreta 'Romanis Pontificibus' (1975.) (English: From the 'Romnos Pontifices' constitution to the 'Romanis Pontificibus' decree) under the mentorship of Ratko Perić.^[2] His brother Grgo joined the Croatian Army during the Croatian War of Independence and lives in Split, Croatia, where he works for the Croatian Ministry of Defence.^[1][2]

Kutleša was ordained a deacon in Bol on 13 March 1993 by Bishop Pavao Žanić and was ordained a priest in his home village, also by Žanić, on 29 June 1993. He chose Psalm 86:12, "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name forevermore", as his priestly motto and celebrated his first mass in Prisoje on 25 July 1993.^[2] From 1993 to 1995, Kutleša was a chaplain in the Mostar cathedral and taught religious education in Gimnazija Mostar. In 1995, he was sent to study canon law at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome with a stipend from the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, living on the premises of the Society of St. Peter the Apostle. He earned his master's degree with the thesis I rapporti tra il Vescovo diocesano e i Religiosi nell'attività apostolica della Diocesi secondo il C.I.C. (cann. 678–683) (English: Relations between the diocesan bishop and religious orders in the apostolic activity of the diocese under the Code of Canon Law (can. 678–683)). He spent the academic year 1996–97 studying administrative practice at the Congregation for the Clergy. During the next academic year, Kutleša passed the exams necessary to enrol in postgraduate studies in canon law. In 1998, he wrote his dissertation, mostly while living in Mostar and working for the diocese. That same year, Kutleša was appointed vice chancellor of the diocese, and in 2000, he became personal secretary to Perić, who succeeded Žanić as the bishop of Mostar-Duvno. On 18 June 2001, Kutleša received his PhD after defending his dissertation in front of Vittorio Pio Pinto, a judge of the Roman Rota, the highest court of the Catholic Church. In 2003, he published parts of his dissertation in Mostar titled, in Italian, Il Triangolo: i Frati Francescani OFM, il Vescovo diocesano e il Clero diocesano nella Diocesi di Mostar-Duvno dal 1881 al 1975 alla luce dei cinque più importanti documenti (English: The triangle: the Franciscan friars OFM, the diocesan bishop, and the diocesan clergy in the Diocese of Mostar-Duvno from 1881 to 1975 in the light of the most important documents). In 2003, Kutleša was appointed a parish administrator in Grude. His parish, nominally under diocesan administration, was usurped by three suspended Franciscan friars. In the same period, he delivered lectures on law at the Theological Institute of Mostar.^[2]

At the request of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Kutleša joined the Congregation on 1 April 2006. From February 2011, Kutleša was also an associate of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments for cases of granting exemption from difficult and unconsummated marriage. On 13 May 2011, Pope Benedict XVI gave him the title of monsignor.^[2]