The twelfth of thirteen children, Vinko Puljić was born in Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina (then part of Yugoslavia), to Ivan and Kaja Puljić. His mother died when he was three-years-old, and his father then remarried. In addition to his family, young Vinko's spiritual formation was deeply influenced by the Trappist Mariastern Abbey, located not far from his native village. One of the monks helped Vinko's father to send his son to the minor seminary of Zagreb. Father Ante Artner sold his motorbike and gave the proceeds to Vinko's father, who did not have enough money to pay his board there. Vinko then studied philosophy and theology at the major seminary of Đakovo.
In 1987, he returned to the Diocese of Banja Luka, where he served as a parish priest in Bosanska Gradiška. He was later transferred to Sarajevo in 1990 as vice-rector of the Sarajevo major seminary.
When the Bosnian War broke out in 1992, Puljić immediately became involved in helping the thousands of refugees and exiles, mobilizing all the forces of the local Church.
During the war, he frequently risked his life while making pastoral trips to his parishes, so he was imprisoned during one visit for twelve hours by the Serbian military in Ilijaš, running a serious risk when he rode in a United Nations Protection Force tank to Vareš. John Paul II once said to him, "When I imposed hands on you...to consecrate you in the office of Pastor of the Church of Sarajevo, I had no idea that very shortly your cross would be so heavy and your cup so bitter."
Status of Međugorje
Puljić, speaking at the 2004 assembly of the Synod of Bishops, said that the unity of the Church is threatened by the disobedience of the Franciscan monks serving at Međugorje, who "impose their own points of view".[3] In 2006, the Episcopal Conference of Bosnia and Herzegovina considered setting up a commission to examine the alleged Marian apparitions.[4] He later served on the commission chaired by Cardinal Ruini.
Relations with Muslims
Puljić has said that before the war, relations with Muslims were very good, but that in recent times, the situation has somewhat deteriorated. The first sign was the arrival of humanitarian aid from Arab countries. It was distributed only to Muslims, while at the same time it was prohibited to give it to Christians.[5] In 2012, Cardinal Puljić warned about the spreading of Wahhabism in Southeastern Europe, especially in Bosnia and Herzegovina, stating that the state authorities are not capable of preventing it. At the same time he warned about the discrimination of Catholics in the Bosnian society, demanding equal treatment for Catholics in employment, education, and other areas. He confirmed that he will continue to try to establish a dialogue and peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was disrupted by the recent war in the country.[6]
Women and marriage
In May 2016, Puljić drew controversy [7] after appealing to women in a sermon in Zadar, Croatia not to have sexual intercourse before marriage so that they wouldn't become a "štraca", which is a local slang word for a "whore".[8][9] The word became a meme, as well, spawning the creation of various Facebook groups numbering thousands of people.[10][11] The cardinal claimed in response that his words were "taken out of context" despite different implications based on the transcript of the sermon, but concedes that the word he used is too harsh.[12]
Clergy sex abuse
In February 2019, Puljić said in an interview that there were several cases of clergy abuse in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well,[13][14] but that he did not report them to the police.[15] Puljić did not publish the names of the abusers or the place where they were at the service.[16]