Rrok Gjonlleshaj ( cnr-Cyrl-Latn, Рок Ђонлешај, Rok Đonlešaj; born 10 February 1961) is a Montenegrin Albanian prelate of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

who serves as the

Archbishop of Bar The Archdiocese of Bar (; ; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in Montenegro.

from 2016. He served as the apostolic administrator of

Kotor Kotor (Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Котор, ), historically known as Cattaro (from Italian language, Italian: ), is a town in Coastal Montenegro, Coastal region of Montenegro. It is located in a secluded part of the Bay of Kotor. The city has ...

from 2023 to 2024, a post he also held from 2019 to 2021. He is also the president of

Caritas Montenegro Caritas Montenegro () is a not-for-profit social welfare organisation in Montenegro. It is a service of the Catholic Church in Montenegro and is a member of both the global Caritas Internationalis and the regional Caritas Europa networks. Histo ...

Life

After the end of his elementary studies in Velezhë ( Prizren Municipality), Rrok Gjonlleshaj studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

and received on 1 August 1987, the

sacrament A sacrament is a Christian rite which is recognized as being particularly important and significant. There are various views on the existence, number and meaning of such rites. Many Christians consider the sacraments to be a visible symbol ...

Holy Orders In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordination, ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders inclu ...

for the

Apostolic Administration of Prizren The Diocese of Prizren and Pristina (, , ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Kosovo. It is centered in the city of Prizren. It was erected as an apostolic administration in 2000, after being split fro ...

. He then worked in several

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es as a vicar and after as a pastor, most of them in

Pristina Pristina or Prishtina ( , ), . is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative center of the eponymous municipality and District of Pristina, district. In antiquity, the area of Pristina was part of the Dardanian Kingdo ...

. Gjonlleshaj was parish priest of the St. Anthony parish in Pristina as well as treasurer of the Apostolic Administration of Prizren. He was also the director of Radio Marija in

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

and a contributor to the Drita religious-cultural show. On 5 April 2016 he was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

as Archbishop of Bar. His episcopal ordination was performed by his predecessor

Zef Gashi Zef Gashi ( Cyrillic: Зеф Гаши / ''Zef Gaši''; born 4 December 1938) is an ethnic Albanian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church in Montenegro. He was the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bar between 1998 and 2016. Zef Gas ...

, SDB on 14 May of the same year and the co-consecrators were the

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, Archbishop

Juliusz Janusz Juliusz Janusz (born 17 March 1944) is a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church who has spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has been an archbishop and held the position of Apostolic Nuncio from 1995 until he retired i ...

, and the

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

Prizren Prizren ( sq-definite, Prizreni, ; sr-cyr, Призрен) is the second List of cities and towns in Kosovo, most populous city and Municipalities of Kosovo, municipality of Kosovo and seat of the eponymous municipality and District of Prizren, ...

Dodë Gjergji Dodë Gjergji (born 16 January 1963) is a Kosovo, Kosovan prelate of the Catholic Church. Since 2006, he serves as Apostolic Administrator of Apostolic Administration of Prizren, Prizren. In 2018, when the apostolic administration was elevated t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjonlleshaj, Rrok 1961 births People from Prizren 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Montenegro Kosovan Roman Catholic bishops Kosovan people of Albanian descent Living people Archbishops of Antivari Montenegrin Roman Catholic archbishops