Father Jozo Zovko was born on March 19, 1941 in Uzarići, in the parish of Široki Brijeg. He was the eighth of ten children in the family of Mate and Milka, née Gugić. He finished his primary school in Široki Brijeg. In 1958 he entered the Bol seminary on the island of Brač. In 1962 he entered the novitiate of the Franciscan monastery of Humac, in Ljubuški. He began studying theology in Sarajevo in 1963, where he was ordained a priest in June 1967. After ordination, he continued his studies in Ljubljana. After completing his studies, he served as parish priest in Konjic, then in Čerin.

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Then he went to study in Austria, where, at the University of Graz, he enrolled in postgraduate education in religious pedagogy. Despite an offer to stay at the university, he decided to return to his native country where he assumed the role of pastor of the parish of Posušje. In the autumn of 1980 he was transferred from Posušje to the parish of Međugorje to be parish priest there.

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On June 24, 1981, during the first apparition of Our Lady, he was in Zagreb preaching a retreat for nuns. At first, he himself was skeptical of the authenticity of the apparitions and called the people to prayer to avoid any error and credulity. He prayed to the Lord for a sign and he got it. He is said to be the seventh seer of Medjugorje. He then became an ardent defender of the messages of Our Lady and took charge of protecting the seers because we were then under communism.

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The government then accused him of organizing a revolt against the communist regime. He was arrested on August 17, 1981 and sentenced to three years' imprisonment, but was released after a year and a half.

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He served his sentence in a prison in Foča. Upon his release in 1983, he was assigned to the parish of Bukovica. From 1985 to 1991 he lived and worked as a parish priest in Tihaljina.

In 1991 he was transferred to Siroki Brijeg where he was guardian of the monastery from 1991 to 1994. In February 2009 he took a year off for health reasons. In the same year he was transferred first to the island of Badija (Croatia), then to Frohnleiten (Austria).

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When he was in Tihaljina, Međugorje or Široki Brijeg, many pilgrims came to listen to his lectures where his word was fiery.

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Very affected by the war which broke out against Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and seeing that thousands of children found themselves without one of their two parents, he founded an association to help them. From 1996 to 2005, a spiritual renewal was organized for the members of the association on the island of Jakljan.

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In 2005, the Franciscan Province of Bosnia and Herzegovina entrusted him with the reconstruction of the Franciscan monastery of Badija.

He is the spiritual guide of many associations resulting from the messages of Međugorje in different countries. He traveled to carry the messages of Our Lady to the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, Italy, Germany , Austria, France, Switzerland, Spain, Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay, Poland, Chile, Syria and Lebanon.

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At the invitation of the Catholic bishops of the Holy Land, at Christmas 1999, he participated in a celebration in Bethlehem marking the 2000 years of the birth of Jesus Christ. On behalf of the European continent, he sent a message of peace from Bethlehem to the whole world.

In August 2002, the pilgrims in Poland presented Father Jozo with a charter from John Paul II under which the Holy Father granted him a special apostolic blessing.

Today Father Jozo lives and works in the Franciscan monasteries of the Franciscan province of Herzegovina in Zagreb.

He also does deepening Faith on the Sacraments retreats on Badija Island for pilgrims who wish.

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Biography adapted from the official website of his association.