Ján Chryzostom Korec

Ján Chryzostom Cardinal Korec (November 2005)

Coat of arms of Ján Chryzostom Cardinal Korec

Ján Chryzostom Cardinal Korec SJ (born January 22, 1924 in Bošany , † October 24, 2015 in Nitra ) was a Slovak Jesuit and Bishop of Nitra .

Life

Ján Chryzostom Korec entered the Jesuit order in 1939 and studied Catholic theology and philosophy . Because of the oppression of the order by the communists, he had to break off his philosophical studies. He was ordained a priest in 1950 . At the age of 27, Bishop Paul Hnilica secretly donated him episcopal ordination on August 24, 1951 during the communist era.

For the next nine years, Korec worked in a factory. In 1960 he was imprisoned for crimes of pastoral work and sat from 1960 to 1968 in prison , where he devotedly cared for his fellow prisoners. After several petitions, he was rehabilitated in the course of a general amnesty in 1968. In poor health he had to work as a street cleaner and factory worker. In 1974 the previously pronounced rehabilitation was canceled and Korec was imprisoned again for four years. In 1978 he was released early from custody because of his poor health. Initially unemployed, he then found a job as a warehouse clerk in a chemical factory.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain , Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Nitra in 1990 . In solemn consistory of 1991 Korec was then as cardinal priest with the titular church of Santi Fabiano e Venanzio a Villa Fiorelli in the College of Cardinals received.

At the 2005 conclave , in which Pope Benedict XVI. was elected, he did not take part because at that time he had already exceeded the maximum age of 80 years for active papal election . However, he was present at the sessions of the Congregation of Cardinals negotiating the start of the conclave and the transfer of the body of the late Pope John Paul II to St. Peter's Basilica .

Since the death of Czech Bishop Karel Otčenášek on May 23, 2011, Korec has been the longest-serving bishop in the world.

Web links

Commons : Ján Chryzostom Korec  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Ján Chryzostom Korec in the catalog of the German National Library
• Entry on Ján Chryzostom Korec on catholic-hierarchy.org

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Slovakia: Cardinal Korec died at the age of 91
2. ↑ Vatican Radio: "Pope congratulates Cardinal Korec", kna / rv August 24, 2011
3. ↑ Seniority of the bishops according to the ordination date

predecessor	Office	successor
Jan Pásztor	Bishop of Nitra 1990-2005	Viliam Judák