Dr. Marijo Zivkovic and his wife, Darka, were appointed to the P o n t i f i c a l Council for the Family in recognition of their pro-life, pro-family efforts in Croatia. The couple founded a Family Center in 1987, despite the difficulties of such a project under communist rule, to promote the Catholic approach to family life. Register correspondent Raymond de Souza recently spoke with Dr. and Mrs. Zivkovic in Eichstatt, Germany.
Marijo and Darka Zivkovic
Personal:Dr. Marijo Zivkovic, born 1939, was trained and employed as an economist. Darka Zivkovic, born 1943, is a former elementary school teacher. The couple had seven children, of whom six survive, and is awaiting the birth of their ninth grandchild this month.
Current positions: Founding directors of the Family Center in Zagreb, Croatia; members of the Pontifical Council for the Family.
Background: Members of the Commission for the Lay Apostolate in the former Yugoslavia from 1979 to 1989, throughout which time Marijo Zivkovic served as secretary of the Commission. He also served on the Family Commission of the bishops’ conference of Yugoslavia and Croatia from 1973 to 1993. Both participated in the Holy Father's Synod on the Family in 1980, and organized several conferences in the 1980s which were the only forums in the Communist world for East-West Catholic dialogue on the family.