Cardinal Josip Bozanić, Archbishop emeritus of Zagreb, was born on March 20, 1949 in Rijeka to Ivan and Dinka Bozanić, née Valković. He spent his childhood and finished primary school in Vrbnik on the Island of Krk.
In 1968 as a candidate to the priesthood of the Diocese of Krk he graduated from classical grammar school at the Diocesan Seminary in Pazin. He started studying Theology in Rijeka and then transferred to Zagreb, where he graduated from the Catholic Faculty of Theology in 1975.
Bozanić was ordained as a priest of the Diocese of Krk on June 29, 1975 in Krk. His first service was of an episcopal secretary to the Bishop of Krk Karmel Zazinović. From 1976 to 1978 he served as a chaplain in Mali Lošinj and rector of the parish Ćunski and then as the rector of the parish Veli Lošinj. In 1978 he was once again appointed as the episcopal secretary to the Bishop of Krk. At the same time he enrolled in a postgraduate study at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb and in the fall of 1979 he earned an academic degree of a Master of Theology in Dogmatic Theology.
As a student of the Pontifical Croatian College of St.Jerome, Bozanić continued his study of Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and study of canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University earning himself an academic degree of a licentiate in canon law.
Upon his return from Rome he was appointed Chancellor of the Bishop's Ordinary in Krk (1986-1987) and Vicar General of the Diocese of Krk (1987- 1989). From 1988 to 1997 he taught courses on Dogmatic Theology and Canon Law at the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Rijeka.
Holy Father John Paul II appointed him Bishop Coadjutor of Krk on May 10, 1989. He was ordained bishop on June 25, 1989 in the Krk Cathedral. On November 14, 1989 he was appointed diocesan bishop of Krk.
At the Bishop's Conference of Yugoslavia and later at the Croatian Bishops’ Conference he served as the president of the Council for Laity and vice president of the Commission Justitia et Pax.He was a member and president of the Bishops’ Commission for the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome in Rome.
Since the Croatian Bishop's Conference was constituted, he was a member of the Permanent Council of the CBC in all terms. In 1993 he was elected member and then President of the Commission of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference for state relations. In that period agreements between the Holy See and the Republic of Croatia were prepared and signed. From June 5, 1996 to November 22, 1996 he served as apostolic administrator of the Rijeka and Senj Archdiocese.
Pope John Paul II appointed him the Archbishop of Zagreb on July 5, 1997. Bozanić took over his service of Archbishop of Zagreb and Metropolitan on October 4 of the same year in the Zagreb Cathedral from his predecessor Cardinal Franjo Kuharić. He was elected president of the Croatian Bishops’ Conference that year as well, office he held for two consecutive terms till 2007.
In April 2001 he was elected first vice president of the Council of European Bishops' Conferences (CCEE) and in 2006 he was re-elected to the same duty for another term. He participated in the first ( in 1991) and the second (in 1999) Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. At the second one, he was elected member of the Special Council of the General Secretariat for Europe.
In 1998, as the Archbishop of Zagreb and president of the CBC, he greeted Pope John Paul II in Zagreb during his second official papal visit to Croatia and in Marija Bistrica at the ceremony of beatification he asked Pope John Paul II to beatify Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac. In 2003, once more as the president of the CBC, he greeted Pope John Paul II during his third official papal visit to Croatia when he visited Rijeka and Trsat, Dubrovnik,Osijek, Đakovo and Zadar. In 2011, as the Archbishop of Zagreb, Boznaić greeted Pope Benedict XVI during his official papal visit to Croatia on the occasion of the First National Day of Croatian Catholic Families.
On October 21, 2003 Pope John Paul II elevated him to the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church at the ceremonious Consistory in Rome.
He is a member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and Discipline of Sacraments and Dicastery for Evangelization.
