Vlado Košić

Vlado Košić (born in Družbinec near Varaždin, 20 May 1959.) is Croatian bishop, leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sisak.

Košić was born in small village of Družbinec near Varaždin on May 20, 1959 to Ivan and Marta (née Dombaj) Košić.

He finished primary school in Družbinec, high school in minor seminary in Zagreb in 1978, and theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty in Zagreb in 1985. On June 30, 1985 he was ordained a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Zagreb. He received his master's degree in 1989 in dogmatic theology with thesis "Treatise "De libero arbitrio et de gratia" of Ivan Paštrić (1636-1708)", and on June 23, 1997 doctoral degree with thesis "Theologian Franjo Ksaver Pejačević (1707-1781) - Features", with Ivan Golub as supervisor. Since November 28, 1997 he holds doctor of science.

He worked in the Archdiocese of Zagreb as a chaplain in Karlovac-Dubovac (1985-1988) and Zagreb-Špansko (1988-1990), and as pastor of Hrastovica (1990-1995) and Petrinja (1992-1995). Since 1995 he worked as an assistant at the Department of Dogmatic Theology at the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Zagreb. In 1997 he became senior assistant, and in 2003 assistant professor. Since January 25, 2001 Košić is a president of the Croatian Mariological Institute of the Catholic Theological Faculty of the University of Zagreb, a member of the Department of Christian east of the Institute of Ecumenical Theology and dialogue "Juraj Križanić" and the Society for history of the Archdiocese "Tkalčić".

Pope John Paul II declared him the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Zagreb in 1998. He served as the Vicar General of the Archdiocese and Episcopal Vicar for the Sisak area. In the Croatian Bishops' Conference he serves as the President of the Commission "Justice and Peace" (Iustitia et Pax) and as the president of the Council for Ecumenism and Dialogue. Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the first bishop of the Diocese of Sisak on 5 December 2009.

Košić is known for his extreme right-wing political views for which he is called by some "Nazi-Bishop", which he refuses to acknowledge stating that he is against any totalitarianism. He was also a strong opponent and critic of left-wing Cabinet of Zoran Milanović, calling it "anti-Croatian".

During 2013 marriage referendum, Košić described the Milanović Government official's opposition to the referendum as shocking, unacceptable and undemocratic, emphasizing that Croats are Catholic people, cherishing traditions by which they have lived for centuries. He accused the Government of atheizing the population, being eager to erase traditional values, and has called for Governments' resignation.

On June 6, 2014, Košić was among the people on Zagreb Airport who have welcomed convicted war criminal Dario Kordić after his release from the Graz-Karlau Prison where he served 25 years sentence for war crimes committed against the Bosniak population during the 1992–94 Bosniak-Croat war. After media in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as some NGOs expressed their dismay of Košić's act, he gave an interview for Sarajevo Catholic Weekly magazine in which he stated that he doesn't believe that Kordić was a war criminal, but was rather a victim of political games regardless of ICTY verdict and all evidences that it was based on.

On August 24, 2015, President and Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović was presented with a petition for the introduction of a Croatian fascist Ustaše movement salute Za dom spremni to the official use in the Croatian Armed Forces. One of the petition signatories was bishop Košić. President Grabar-Kitarović immediately rejected petition calling it "frivolous, unacceptable and provocative". Bishop of Dubrovnik Mate Uzinić stated in an interview for Jutarnji list that salute "Za dom spremni" cannot be acceptable to Church.

On December 21, 2015, Košić wrote a Facebook post referring to the possible coalition agreement between Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Bridge of Independent Lists (MOST) in which he called leader of MOST Božo Petrov "a sucker and a traitor that throws his party into the jaws of the Communists", and leader of SDP Zoran Milanović "a thief and a fraud". After the media reported about his post general public expressed its dissatisfaction which resulted in Košić deleting his Facebook account.

On August 15, 2016, on the mass celebrated for the Assumption of Mary, Košić, during his homily, urged people to vote on 2016 parliamentary election "for those who will rid us of yugo-communist heritage and carry out lustration." He also refereed to the trial to Josip Perković and Zdravko Mustač who were found guilty by German court in a first-instance verdict for murder of Croat nationalist émigré Stjepan Đureković, stating that "not only two members of secret service (UDBA) were convicted in Germany but the entire yugo-communist system that killed Croatian patriots abroad as well. It's not clearly stated, so I repeat: communist Yugoslavia was convicted as a terrorist state and its Communist regime as criminal because it killed Croats abroad! So today, those who protected killers and the criminal regime can no longer rule in Croatia." However, all of this is false. In addition, he urged God to "remove and prevent forever in their intentions all of those who are serving diabolical dragon and Herods."

• Vrijednosti svakodnevnice (English: The values of everyday), 1995
• Zapisi s ruba - o Bogu ljepote, o Svetom Trojstvu, životu i ljubavi (English: Notes from the edge - about God of beauty, the Holy Trinity, life and love), 1995
• Teolog Franjo Ksaver Pejačević - (1707. - 1781.): značajke (English: Theologian Franjo Ksaver Pejačević - (1707 - 1781): Features), 1997
• Novo staro lice Boga (English: New old face of God), 2005
• Biskup na prvoj crti (English: Bishop on the front line), 2013