Roman Catholic Cardinal. Born in Osijek in the then Austro-Hungarian empire, successively Yugoslavia and present day Croatia, Franjo Šeper was raised in Zagreb, where he entered seminary in 1924. Pursuing his studies in Rome, he was ordained priest at the Patriarchal Liberian Basilica in October 1930 along with Alojzije Stepinac, who would become his predecessor in the archbishopric see of Zagreb, declared blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1998. Back in Zagreb, he taught religion in mid-schools until 1934, when he was appointed secretary to the local archbishop. Rector of Zagreb's seminary between 1941 and 1951, when to named Cardinal Stepinac was confined in house imprisonment in his native town of Krašić, he was appointed coadjutor of the metropolitan see of Zagreb "sedi datus", receiving his episcopal consecration in September 1954. Succeeding to the named metropolitan see on March 5, 1960, following Stepinac's death, Pope Paul VI created him cardinal priest with the title of Ss. Pietro e Paolo in Ostiense in the consistory of February 22, 1965, appointing him later prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1968. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals between 1974 and 1976, he resigned the prefecture due to ill health in 1969. He passed following a heart attack at the Policlinico Gemelli in Rome assisted by his sister and one of Zagreb's auxiliary bishops. Following the celebration of a funeral mass at St. Peter's Patriarchal Basilica, presided by Pope John Paul II, his body was transferred to Zagreb for internment in the metropolitan cathedral.
Roman Catholic Cardinal. Born in Osijek in the then Austro-Hungarian empire, successively Yugoslavia and present day Croatia, Franjo Šeper was raised in Zagreb, where he entered seminary in 1924. Pursuing his studies in Rome, he was ordained priest at the Patriarchal Liberian Basilica in October 1930 along with Alojzije Stepinac, who would become his predecessor in the archbishopric see of Zagreb, declared blessed by Pope John Paul II in 1998. Back in Zagreb, he taught religion in mid-schools until 1934, when he was appointed secretary to the local archbishop. Rector of Zagreb's seminary between 1941 and 1951, when to named Cardinal Stepinac was confined in house imprisonment in his native town of Krašić, he was appointed coadjutor of the metropolitan see of Zagreb "sedi datus", receiving his episcopal consecration in September 1954. Succeeding to the named metropolitan see on March 5, 1960, following Stepinac's death, Pope Paul VI created him cardinal priest with the title of Ss. Pietro e Paolo in Ostiense in the consistory of February 22, 1965, appointing him later prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1968. Camerlengo of the Sacred College of Cardinals between 1974 and 1976, he resigned the prefecture due to ill health in 1969. He passed following a heart attack at the Policlinico Gemelli in Rome assisted by his sister and one of Zagreb's auxiliary bishops. Following the celebration of a funeral mass at St. Peter's Patriarchal Basilica, presided by Pope John Paul II, his body was transferred to Zagreb for internment in the metropolitan cathedral.
Bio by: Eman Bonnici
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