Marko Culej

After ordination, Culej in 1964 served as assistant priest in Samobor, and from 1964 as assistant priest in Desinić. In January 1965, he became interim parish administrator for the local St. George church, and in July he was appointed parish administrator and remained there until September 1981, when he was relieved of his duties as parish administrator. From 1965 until 1975, he was also the temporary administrator in Poljana Sutlanska.

In September 1981, he was appointed a vice-rector of the Archbishop's Major Theological Seminary, a position he held until 1992. In 1986, in addition to the position of Vice-rector, Fr. Culej was appointed a canon of the Primate's Chapter of Zagreb and a head of the Archdiocesan Center for Spiritual Vocations. During 1992–1993 he served as a Rector of the Archbishop's Major Theological Seminary in Zagreb.^[1]

On January 7, 1992, he was appointed by Pope John Paul II as a Titular Bishop of Limata and an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Zagreb. On February 22, 1992, he was consecrated as bishop by Cardinal Franjo Kuharić and other prelates in the Cathedral of Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Stephen of Hungary in Zagreb.^[2] On August 18, 1993, he was relieved of his duties as the Rector of the Theological Seminary and appointed a vicar general of the archdiocese.

Four years later, on July 5, 1997, Culej become the first bishop of the newly created Roman Catholic Diocese of Varaždin.^[1] He died while at the office on August 19, 2006, after a long and severe illness, at the age of 69 in Varaždin.^[3]