Archives

Serbia

Observer to COMECE

Bishop Stanislav Hocevar

Archbishop of Belgrade

Mgr. Stanislav Hočevar was born on the 12th November, 1945 in the village of Jelendol, Slovenia. He took his final vows after completing novitiate at the Salesians of Don Bosco and was ordained priest on the 29th June, 1973 in Ljubljana. Following ordination, he took on care of education of the young in Želimlje Grammar School and was appointed headmaster of that institution in 1979. … Continue reading »

Switzerland

Observer to COMECE

Bishop Markus Büchel

Bishop of St-Gallen

Born August 9, 1949 in Rüthi (in the Rhine valley, canton of St. Gallen), Mgr. Markus Büchel studied at the Rheineck highschool (St Gallen) and Einsiedeln, where he obtained his maturity in 1970. He studied theology at Fribourg from 1970 to 1975. He was ordained priest in 1976, before being Vicar in two parishes in the city of St. Gallen, then parish priest in Flawil … Continue reading »

Nordic Countries

Vice-President

Bishop Czeslaw Kozon

Bishop of Copenhagen

Bishop Kozon was born on 17 November 1951 in Soendre Taastrup, Denmark, and studied theology and philosophy in Rome. On 6 January 1979, he was ordained a priest and consecrated bishop on 7 May 1995. Since 2015 Bishop Kozon has been President of the Scandinavian Bishops’ Conference. Since 2007 he is the COMECE Bishop Delegate from the Episcopates of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom … Continue reading »

Slovenia

President of the Commission on Ethics

Bishop Anton Jamnik

Auxiliary Bishop of Ljubljana

Mgr Anton Jamnik was born in 1961 in Ljubljana. He graduated in 1987 and was ordained priest in the same year. In 1993 he defended his master’s thesis entitled The Sacred between Transcendence and Immanence in Contemporary Slovenian Philosophical Thought at the Department of Philosophy of the Faculty of Theology of the University of Ljubljana. He continued his doctoral studies and in 1997 completed his … Continue reading »

Poland

President of the Commission on Culture and Education

Bishop Janusz Stepnowski

Bishop of Lomza

Bishop Janusz Stepnowski was born on 11 July 1958 in Ostroleka, Poland. He studied philosophy and theology at the Major Seminary in Lomza from 1979 to 1985. His studies were interrupted for six months by compulsory military service imposed by the communist government. He was ordained a priest on 1 June 1985. After his ordination, he was sent to study at the University in Pamplona … Continue reading »

Lithuania

Vice-President

Bishop Rimantas Norvila

Bishop of Vilkaviškis

Bishop Norvila was born on 2 December 1957 in Baptai, Lithuania. Following technical studies, he worked for several years for various companies. He entered the seminary and was ordained a priest on 24 February 1991. After his studies and licentiate in theology in Rome, he was consecrated a Bishop on 29 June 1997. At first Auxiliary Bishop of Kaunas and Titular Bishop of Castrum, since … Continue reading »

Cyprus

Archbishop Selim Jean Sfeir

Archbishop of the Maronites in Cyprus

Archbishop Selim Sfeir was born in Rayfoun, Lebanon, on 2 September 1958. He entered Ghazir Seminary in 1974 and obtained a Bachelor degree in Theology at the Pontifical College of Theology in Kaslik. In 2001 he received a Doctorate Degree in Canon and Civil Law from the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome and the year after a MA Degree in Eastern Ecclesiastic Law from the … Continue reading »

Bulgaria

Bishop Christo Proykov

Apostolic Echarch of Sofia

Bishop Proykov was born on 11 March 1946 in Sofia (Bulgaria). He was ordained a Bulgarian-Catholic priest on 23 May 1971 and consecrated a Bishop on 6 January 1994. Bishop Proykov served as a Coadjutor in the Apostolic Exarchate of Sofia and as Titular Bishop of Briula. Since 1995 Christo Proykov has been Bishop of the Bulgarian-Catholic Exarchate of Sofia. In 2009 Pope Benedict XVI … Continue reading »

Germany

Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck

Bishop of Essen and Military Bishop

Franz-Josef Overbeck was born on 19 June 1964 in Marl, Germany, and was ordained a priest on 10 October 1989 in Rome. In 1994 he was designated Cathedral Vicar and Rector of the German Students Residence in Münster (Germany) and in 2000 he became Head of the Institute of Diaconate and Pastoral Services of the diocese of Münster. On 18 July 2007, Pope Benedict XVI … Continue reading »

Latvia

Bishop Andris Kravalis

Auxiliary Bishop of Riga

Bishop Andris Kravalis was born on 11 June 1967 in Gulbene, Latvia. He received the sacrament of priestly ordination on 23 August 1999. On 8 March 2019, Pope Francis appointed him Titular Bishop of Migirpa (Tunisia) and Auxiliary Bishop in Riga. The Archbishop of Riga, Zbigņev Stankevičs, consecrated him Bishop on 4 May of the same year in Riga’s St. James Cathedral. Mgr. Kravalis is … Continue reading »