Fr. Božo Bugarija, a member of the Province of St. Jerome in Croatia and of the Convent of St. Michael in Zadar, died in the hospital in Zadar on August 23, 2022, weakened by a serious illness, at the age of 78, after 56 years of religious life and 49 years of priesthood.
He was born on December 18, 1944 in Bibinje (Dalmatia) into a large Catholic family to father Marko and mother Ana, nee Šimunić. After elementary school in his native town and after three years of schooling as a baker and a year of work in that profession, he entered the minor seminary of the Province in the Convent of San Michele in Zara. He attended the archdiocesan classical high school in Zara. He made temporary vows on August 3, 1967 in the convent of St. Francis in Krk and solemn vows on December 8, 1973 in the convent on the island of Školjić (Preko). He graduated from the Catholic Faculty of Theology in Zagreb and was ordained a priest on June 29, 1974, also in Zagreb.
He was chaplain in the parishes in Kloštar Podravski (1974 – 1976), Ogulin (1976 – 1979) and Split (1980 – 1983). He was the local minister and parish priest in Kotari (1984 – 1987) and was a member of the Glavotok convent on the island of Krk for two years (1983 – 1984 and 1987 – 1988). Then he was the head of the Croatian Catholic Mission in Bad Säckingen in Germany for thirteen years. From 2001 until the end of his life he was a member of the Convent of San Michele in Zara and there he joined other friars in the pastoral care of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. During his stay in Zadar, he was for some years chaplain of the Benedictine nuns in Zadar and willingly helped in the parishes of the Archdiocese of Zadar. After the onset of a serious illness, he was treated in Zagreb for eight months and lived in the convent in Odra (Zagreb). Returning to his convent of San Michele in Zara he engaged in the apostolate of the convent according to his abilities and participated in it until the last days of his life.
The funeral was conducted on August 26 at the Municipal Cemetery of Zara by Fr. Ivo Martinović, Minister Provincial, with the assistance of Fr. Niko Barun, local minister and of Fr. Zvonimir Brusač, Provincial Secretary. At the funeral, together with the friars of the Province, were the brothers and sisters of Fr. Božo with their families, relatives, Fr Zdenko Milić, pastor of Fr. Božo, about fifteen priests from Zadar and its surroundings, men and women religious from Zadar, fellow citizens of Fr. Božo and many friends and acquaintances.
The funeral mass in the church of St. John the Baptist in Zadar was presided over by the Minister Provincial, Fr. Ivo Martinović, in concelebration with the Provincial Vicar, Fr. Branko Lovrić, the local minister, Fr. Niko Barun, the friars of the Province and a dozen priests of the Archdiocese of Zara. In the special homily, the Minister Provincial highlighted the values that were permanently present in the life of Fr. Božo: dedication to work for the good of the faithful and the people, joy and a sense of humor, love for the homeland and cooperation in the pastoral care of vocations.