Archbishop Alojzij Cvikl, S.J. (born 19 June 1955) is a Slovenian

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

prelate who serves as an Archbishop of Archdiocese of Maribor since 14 March 2015.

Education

Archbishop Cvikl was born into a simple peasant-worker family near

Nova Cerkev Nova Cerkev () is a settlement in the Municipality of Vojnik in eastern Slovenia. It lies on the left bank of the Hudinja River northwest of Vojnik off the main road to Velenje. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. It is now incl ...

in the

Municipality of Vojnik The Municipality of Vojnik (; sl, Občina Vojnik) is a municipality in eastern Slovenia. The seat of the municipality is the town of Vojnik. The area is part of the traditional region of Styria. The municipality is now included in the Savinja S ...

. After finishing primary school, which he attended in

and

Dobrna Dobrna (, german: Neuhaus) is a settlement in Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Dobrna. It is best known for its spa. It lies north of Celje and east of Velenje in an area that is part of the traditional region of Styria. The mun ...

and graduation a classical gymnasium #2 in

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

in 1974, he joined a

religious order A religious order is a lineage of communities and organizations of people who live in some way set apart from society in accordance with their specific religious devotion, usually characterized by the principles of its founder's religious practi ...

of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

and after the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

, that he mast interrupt because of compulsory military service in the Yugoslav Army in 1976, Alojzij consequently studied at the Theological faculty at the

University of Ljubljana The University of Ljubljana ( sl, Univerza v Ljubljani, , la, Universitas Labacensis), often referred to as UL, is the oldest and largest university in Slovenia. It has approximately 39,000 enrolled students. History Beginnings Although certain ...

from 1977 and continued his studies at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

from 1980. He

professed A vow ( Lat. ''votum'', vow, promise; see vote) is a promise or oath. A vow is used as a promise, a promise solemn rather than casual. Marriage vows Marriage vows are binding promises each partner in a couple makes to the other during a weddin ...

as a Jesuit and was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 3 July 1983 by bishop

Jožef Smej Jožef Smej (15 February 1922 – 21 November 2020) was a Slovene prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Smej was born in Bogojina, Slovenia and was ordained a priest on 8 December 1944. Smej was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese o ...

, after completed his philosophical and theological studies. Coat of arms of Alojzij Cvikl

Pastoral and educational work

After his ordination Fr. Cvikl served as a chaplain in the parish of

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

- Dravlje and after that continued his postgraduate studies at the Lumen Vitae Faculty of the Saint-Louis University in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

from 1988 until 1990 with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

of the pedagogy. From 1990 to 1993 he again served as a parish priest of

- Dravlje. From 1993 he worked atin the field of education in

and also from 1995 until 2001 was a Provincial of the Slovenian Province of the

Society of Jesus , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

. In January 1996, he became President of the Association of Senior Ordinary Supervisors. During his presidency, the Association was renamed the Conference of Religious Institutions of Slovenia in 1999. After that he served as the Rector of the Pontifical Collegium Russicum in

(2001–2010), but in 2010 returned to Slovenia and worked as an economist of the Archdiocese of Maribor.

Prelate

On 14 March 2015, he was appointed by

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

as an Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Maribor. On 26 April 2015, he was consecrated as bishop by Archbishop

Juliusz Janusz Juliusz Janusz (born 17 March 1944) is a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church who has spent his career in the diplomatic service of the Holy See. He has been an archbishop and held the position of Apostolic Nuncio from 1995 until he retired in ...

and other prelates of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in

. On 13 March 2017 in

Koper Koper (; it, Capodistria, hr, Kopar) is the fifth largest city in Slovenia. Located in the Istrian region in the southwestern part of the country, approximately five kilometres () south of the border with Italy and 20 kilometres () from Triest ...

, the Slovenian bishops elected Archbishop Cvikl as the vice-president of the

Episcopal Conference of Slovenia Slovenian Bishops' Conference (SBC; sl, Slovenska škofovska konferenca, ) is the supreme authority of the Roman Catholic Church in Slovenia, which combines all the bishops of Slovenian dioceses and archdioceses: Archdiocese of Ljubljana, Archdi ...

for a term of five years and on 24 March 2022 he was replaced at this office by Bishop

Peter Štumpf Bishop Peter Štumpf, S.D.B. (born 28 June 1962) is a Slovenian Roman Catholic prelate who serves as the second Bishop of the Diocese of Murska Sobota since 28 November 2009. Previously he was a Titular Bishop of Musti in Numidia and Auxiliary Bi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cvikl, Alojzij 1955 births Living people People from Celje Pontifical Gregorian University alumni University of Ljubljana alumni Slovenian Jesuits Jesuit archbishops 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Slovenia Bishops appointed by Pope Francis