Mons. Ratko Perić (born February 2, 1944) is the current Bishop of Mostar-Duvno and Apostolic Administrator of Trebinje-Mrkan.[1]
Ratko Perić was born in the village of Tuk in the Rovišće municipality,[1] near Bjelovar in Croatia. After studies in Zagreb and Rome, he was ordained priest on 29 June 1969[1] in Prisoje. He received doctorate from the Pontifical Urbaniana University in 1971, and then taught at Catholic seminaries in Sarajevo, Zagreb, and for several years at the Gregoriana in Rome.
He was rector of the Pontifical Croatian College of St. Jerome in Rome, 1980 - 1992.
Pope John Paul II named him coadjutor bishop of Mostar-Duvno on 29 May 1992.[1] Since the Mostar Cathedral was heavily damaged in the ongoing war, Bishop Ratko's consecration took place in Neum, on 14 September 1992.[1] He was consecrated by Franjo Cardinal Kuharić, Archbishop of Zagreb, assisted by Archbishop Josip Uhač, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and Pavao Žanić, bishop of Mostar-Duvno.[1]
Following Bishop Žanić's retirement, Mons. Perić succeeded him as Bishop of Mostar-Duvno on 24 July 1993.[1] He is ex officio permanent apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Trebinje-Mrkan.
Ratko Perić was, like Pavao Žanić, against the Marian apparitions of Međugorje.[2] Bishop Perić wrote a personal letter declaring his position to be that nothing supernatural was occurring in Međugorje (the third designation). But in order not to lead the faithful into believing that his statement was an official Church position, Archbishop Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that was presided over at the time by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, wrote in a letter to the bishop of Saint-Denis-de-La Réunion that "what Bishop Perić said in his letter … is and remains his personal opinion."