Jonáš Jozef Maxim is the new Archbishop of the Uniate Greek-Catholic Archeparchy of Prešov in eastern Slovakia. More than fifty bishops participated in the celebrations on January 27th. The Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia has around 220,000 believers.
The Slovak National Council has a parliamentary chaplain for the first time, the Catholic priest Jan Buc (51). The creation of the new role follows a memorandum between…
The invitation for the consecration of Jonáš Jozef Maxim (59) as the new archbishop and metropolitan of the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia was followed by more than fifty bishops from countries where Greek Catholic churches exist under their own law. The celebrations thus became the largest meeting of Greek Catholic bishops ever held in Slovakia.
The country's Roman Catholic Church was represented by the president of the Slovak Bishops' Conference, Archbishop of Košice Bernard Bober. As archbishop, Maxim assumes the presidency of the hierarchical council of the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia, but is also a member of the Conference of Catholic Bishops. Cardinal Schönborn, who heads the Greek Catholic Churches in Austria as Ordinary, was represented at the celebrations by the Vicar General of the Eastern Church, Yuriy Kolasa.
The consecration was performed by the Eparch of Košice, Archbishop Cyril Vasil, in the Cathedral of John the Baptist in Prešov. The consecration marks the end of four years of major personnel changes in the thriving Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia, which has only about 220,000 believers. Maxim returned to his native Slovakia after twenty years as a monk in Ukraine due to his appointment as archbishop.
In 2021, Pope Francis visited the Greek Catholic community in Slovakia.
(kna – vn)