- Ján Sokol
Ján Sokol (born
9 October 1933 inJacovce nearTopoľčany ) is a Slovak priest and currently Archbishop of theArchdiocese of Trnava .Life
He studied at a grammar school in Topoľčany and studies theology and philosophy in
Bratislava , before being sanctified to a priest in 1957. He was subsequently achaplain inŠurany (1957–58),Levice (1958–60), Bratislava-Nové Mesto (1960–66) andŠtúrovo (1966–68). From 1968 to 1970 he was a prefect at a Roman Catholic seminary in Bratislava, before working again as a chaplain inSereď in 1970–71, and was a dean there until 1975.He was pronounced an
Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Trnava (not to be confused with the present-day Archdiocese) in 1987, and appointed as a titular bishop of Luni in May 1988 and ordained bishop in June 1988 in the St. John the Baptist Cathedral inTrnava . He became Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava in 1989.On 14 February 2008,
Pope Benedict XVI appointed him as the Archbishop of the newly-created Archdiocese of Trnava, with a special privilege to wear "pallium " despite no longer being ametropolitan bishop . [ [http://www.sme.sk/c/3729272/Pribudli-diecezy-Sokol-ostal-arcibiskupom.html SME: Pribudli diecézy, Sokol ostal arcibiskupom ("New dioceses, Sokol remains an archbishop") (Slovak)] ]Controversy
Ján Sokol is listed as having cooperated with the former Communist Czechoslovak secret police, according to the documents from "Ústav pamäti národa" (ÚPN, Nation's Memory Institute), however, he denied any cooperation. [http://www.spectator.sk/articles/view/31319/2/after_200_years_the_catholic_church_gets_a_makeover.html Slovak Spectator: After 200 years, the Catholic Church gets a makeover] ] He is also criticized for praising
Jozef Tiso , the leader of the WWII Slovak State. [ [http://www.spectator.sk/articles/view/31550/2/archbishop_prays_for_tiso.html Slovak Spectator: Archbishop prays for Tiso] ] [ [http://www.sme.sk/c/3077003/Zvaz-zidovskych-obci-vytkol-Sokolovi-ze-obhajoval-vojnovy-stat.html SME: Zväz židovských obcí vytkol Sokolovi, že obhajoval vojnový štát] ]References
External links
* [http://www.kbs.sk/?cid=1117223930 Biography on the page of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovakia]
* [http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bsokol.html Ján Sokol at catholic-hierarchy]
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