known as a lively child, attended the village elementary school from 1975 to 1983. He made a decision to become a priest, to which his mother was opposed at first. Nevertheless, Bishop Pavao Žanić accepted him into seminary and sent him to Ruđer Bošković Gymnasium in Dubrovnik, where he studied from 1983 until graduation in June 1987. In 1987, Kutleša enrolled at the College of Theology of Vrhbosna in Sarajevo, spending his last academic year of 1992/93 in Bol on the isle of Brač. At the time, the College of Theology of Vrhbosna was a branch of the Catholic Faculty of Theology, University of Zagreb. He graduated with the thesis Od konstitucije 'Romanos Pontifices' (1881.) do dekreta 'Romanis Pontificibus' (1975.) () under mentorship of Ratko Perić. His brother Grgo joined the Croatian Army and currently lives in Split, Croatia and works for the Croatian Ministry of Defence. Priesthood While in Bol, Kutleša was ordained as a deacon on 13 March 1993 by Bishop Pavao Žanić, and was ordained as a priest in his home village also by Žanić on 29 June 1993. He chose Ps 86,12 "I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name forevermore" as his priestly motto and celebrated his first mass in Prisoje on 25 July 1993. From 1993 to 1995, Kutleša was a chaplain in the Mostar cathedral and taught religious education in Gimnazija Mostar. In 1995, he was sent to study canon law at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome with a stipend from the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and living in the premises of the Society of St. Peter the Apostle. He earned his master's degree with the thesis I rapporti tra il Vescovo diocesano e i Religiosi nell'attività apostolica della Diocesi secondo il C.I.C. (cann. 678-683) (). He spent the academic year 1996/97 studying administrative practice at the Congregation for the Clergy. In the next academic year, Kutleša passed the exams necessary to enroll in postgraduate studies in canon law. From 1998, he wrote his dissertation mostly while living in Mostar and working for the diocese. In the same year, Kutleša was appointed the vice chancellor of the diocese and in 2000 he became personal secretary to Perić, who succeeded Žanić as the bishop of Mostar-Duvno. On 18 June 2001, Kutleša earned his Ph.D. after defending his dissertation in front of