Pope Francis appoints bishop to troubled Slovak diocese
July 12, 2013
One year after Pope Benedict XVI took the unusual step of removing a Slovak archbishop from his see, Pope Francis has named Bishop Ján Orosch the new Archbishop of Trnava.
Born in 1953, Bishop Orosch was ordained to the priesthood in 1976 and appointed auxiliary bishop of what was then the Archdiocese of Bratislava-Trnava in 2004.
In 2009, Pope Benedict appointed Father Róbert Bezák, a Redemptorist priest, as Archbishop of Trnava. In early 2012, the archdiocese became the subject of an apostolic visitation amid charges that Church funds had been mismanaged.
Archbishop Bezák reportedly refused a Vatican request for his resignation, and in July, Pope Benedict removed him from his see. Upon removing Archbishop Bezák from office, Pope Benedict appointed Bishop Orosch as the archdiocese’s apostolic administrator.
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Further information:
- Pontifical Acts - 11 July (VIS)
- Slovakian Catholics ask reason for archbishop's ouster, as audit triggers criminal probe (CWN, 7/9/12)
- Pope dismisses Slovakian archbishop from pastoral office (CWN, 7/2/12)
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