Bishop of Linares
Msgr. Tomislav Koljatic Maroevic was born on September 19, 1955, in the city of Santiago. His parents were of Croatian origin and arrived in Chile a few years after their marriage. He is the youngest of three brothers. He completed his schooling at the Colegio del Verbo Divino, graduating in 1972. He then studied Economics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, graduating in 1977. He entered the Pontifical Major Seminary of Santiago in 1980 and was ordained a priest on August 14, 1987, by Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno at the Santiago Cathedral. During his early years of ministry, he served as parochial vicar at San Gregorio Parish in southern Santiago. Subsequently, he spent ten years as an advisor to the pastoral ministry at the Pontifical Catholic University of Santiago, specifically at the East Campus (Campus Oriente). In 1997, he was appointed parish priest of María Reina de los Apóstoles Parish in southern Santiago. On the Solemnity of the Epiphany in 1998, His Holiness John Paul II ordained him a bishop at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, assigning him as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Santísima Concepción. There, he worked particularly with young people and in the Arauco area. In January 2003, the Holy Father appointed him Bishop of Linares; he assumed leadership of the diocese on March 16 of that year.