Cardinal Ladislav Nemet, the Metropolitan Archbishop of Belgrade, is Serbia’s first ever cardinal who has taught missiology and theology and once served as secretary general of the Hungarian bishops’ conference. He is a firm supporter of synodality and Francis’ Church reform.

Born on September 7, 1956, in Odžaci, Serbia (then part of Yugoslavia), Nemet joined the Society of the Divine Word in 1977 and was ordained priest on May 1, 1983.

Nemet’s education with secondary school at the Paulinum diocesan grammar school in Subotica from 1971 to 1976. He then joined the Society of the Divine Word and studied philosophy and theology in Pieniężno, Poland. He obtained a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome in 1987.

From1983 to 1985 he worked as a priest in Yugoslavia before going on to serve as a missionary in the Philippines from 1987 to 1994, focusing on university pastoral work. Subsequently, he held positions in Austria, including professor of theology in Mödling and collaborator of the Holy See’s mission at the United Nations Office in Vienna.

In 2004, Nemet became the provincial of the Hungarian province of his order, and in 2006, he was elected secretary general of the Hungarian bishops’ conference. His episcopal journey began on April 23, 2008, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Bishop of Zrenjanin. He received episcopal ordination later that year from Cardinal Péter Erdő, Metropolitan Archbishop of Esztergom-Budapest, and served as Bishop of Zrenjanin until November 2022 when he was appointed Archbishop of Belgrade.

He was elected Vice President of the Council of European Bishops’ Conferences (CCEE) in September 2021.

Pope Francis elevated Nemet to the cardinalate on December 7, 2024, making him the first Serbian cardinal in the Church’s history.

Throughout his ecclesiastical life, Nemet has demonstrated a commitment to education, missionary work, and leadership within the Catholic Church.

Speaking to journalists on the day of the consistory, he said he fully backed Pope Francis’ reforms and synodality, saying they have been needed for the past 200 years since the Council of Trent. He did not think they undermined the Church’s hierarchy, saying the “centralization and absolutization” that was imposed around the year 1075 “isn’t the only proper way of understanding hierarchy.”

He said he was very pleased that the idea of “common baptism” emerged during the Synod on Synodality, which to him means it is “not anymore about the threefold ministry of Jesus” but rather that “Jesus is something and we are something else.” Jesus, he continued, let the Church he founded be led by the Holy Spirit “and if the Holy Spirit guides us towards a female diaconate, I will say, ‘Okay, that’s my Church.’”¹Common baptism, which is rooted in the Second Vatican Council, underscores the fundamental unity and equality of all believers, calling for a more inclusive and participatory approach to the Church’s life and mission. This means greater involvement of lay people, women, and young people. It suggests the need for a Church that is “less bureaucratic and more relational,” reflecting the idea of the Church as “God’s home and family.” It proposes a reconsideration of formation for priests, deacons, and laity to better carry out their mission together, addressing issues such as clericalism and the need for more collaborative approaches.”

As for the qualities needed to be Pope, he said he must be “a man of prayer,” adding light-heartedly that he must also “still be a Catholic and, according to canon law, he must be a male.”

Nemet is known for his linguistic abilities. He is fluent in Hungarian and Serbian, and also speaks English, German, Polish, Italian, and Croatian.