Ján Chryzostom Korec,
SJ (22 January 1924 – 24 October 2015) was a
Slovak Jesuit
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, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
priest and a
cardinal
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
of the
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 ...
. He was ordained as a priest in 1950 and consecrated as a bishop in 1951.
Because of the government's suppression of the
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 ...
, he spent 39 years as working as a priest without government authorisation, either in prison or by supporting himself as a labourer.
In 1990, Pope
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
named him Bishop of
Nitra and in 1991 named him a cardinal. Korec retired in 2005 and died in 2015.
Early life
He was born to a working-class family. His father, Ján Korec, and his mother, Mária Drábiková, were labourers at a local leather factory in Bošany. He had two older siblings; his brother, Anton, was imprisoned during the first wave of communist persecution in 1951, and his sister was Štefánia. His family lived a humble life with limited resources.
Korec entered the
Society of Jesus
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, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
in 1939 and studied Catholic
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
.
Under communism
During the order's suppression by the communists, he was forced to discontinue his philosophical studies. He entered the priesthood in 1950. One year later, at the age of 27, he was secretly consecrated a bishop by Bishop Pavol Hnilica on 24 August 1951 and became the youngest Catholic bishop in the world. He then worked for three years at the Tatrachema Company and then at the Institute of Work Hygiene and Work-Related Diseases. On 30 June 1958, he was forced to leave the institute, and on 10 September, he began working as a night watchman for the Prefa Company. He then worked as a maintenance worker at the Juraj Dimitrov Chemical Company, one of the largest companies in Bratislava.
He was imprisoned from 1960 to 1968 and meanwhile cared for the spiritual welfare of his fellow prisoners. Korec spent most of that period in Valdice, a Czech prison. There were at least 250 priests and several bishops being held: Vojtašák, Zela, Otčenášek, Hlad and Hopko. The clergymen were forced to share prison cells with some of the country's worst criminals. He later described his experiences in ''Night of the Barbarians''. After many petitions, he was released during a general
amnesty in 1968.
Despite his bad health, Korec continued to work as a street cleaner and as a factory worker. He meanwhile also continued his active life as a leader of the underground Church. He led spiritual retreats for students and counseled young people, seminarians and priests. His private apartment in Petržalka on Vilova Street 7 became a highly-sought centre of his underground ministry. Many people, laypersons and priests went to him for spiritual advice. Because the publication of Christian literature was proscribed, Korec wrote
samizdat books, which were secretly printed and distributed. He also secretly ordained priests because the law allowed for the ordination by government-approved clerics and limited ordinations so that it could restrict church activity.
The secret police, the Štátna Tajná Bezpečnost, watched Korec's apartment closely, and two attempts were made to assassinate him.
Later life
In 1990, after the
fall of the Iron Curtain
The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...
, Pope
John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
appointed him as bishop of
Nitra
![Coat of arms of Ján Chryzostom Korec](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Coat_of_arms_of_J%C3%A1n_Chryzostom_Korec.svg)
On 29 May 1991, John Paul II made Korec a cardinal. He was invested as a cardinal in a
consistory on 28 June and was named
cardinal-priest of
Santi Fabiano e Venanzio a Villa Fiorelli
Santi Fabiano e Venanzio a Villa Fiorelli is a church on Via Terni, Rome. The parish was set up by Pope Pius XI, and the church opened for worship as the regional church of the Camerino region (served by diocesan clergy) in 1936. It was designe ...
.
On 13 June 2012, Korec was admitted to the hospital for a ruptured appendix. He suffered a perforated appendicitis and severe peritonitis, and his vital signs were beginning to fail. The doctors operated on him, but his condition still remained critical. By 18 June, it was announced that his condition had not improved and that he was breathing only by a respirator. On 20 June, it was announced that the condition of Korec had significantly improved, which was a great surprise for all of Slovakia.
Korec remained active in the Church and in his social life. He received three honorary degrees from universities in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. He published regularly, especially in the Slovak magazine "Kultúrny Život".
After the fall of the Iron Curtain and the revival of democracy in Czechoslovakia, Korec became an influential leader in all aspects of social, economic and political developments in Slovakia.
He supported Slovak independence and opposed the Christian Democrats, who implemented stringent free-market policies that caused a rapid rise in unemployment and economic hardship. He allied himself more closely with the left-wing parties and Slovak Prime Minister Mečiar, who played a significant role in the
Velvet Divorce between the Czechs and the Slovaks and tried to maintain a certain political neutrality.
The 40 years of communist domination left the
Slovak Catholic Church in ruins. There was a shortage of priests, and church buildings needed to be renovated. In addition, Catholic education had suffered severe drawbacks, and new schools needed to be built. There was also a shortage of teachers, and Catholic media was nonexistent. Besides restoring the Church and Catholic education, he restored a good relationship with the Jewish minority.
In 1987, Korec was one of the 24 Slovak activists who signed the "Declaration of Apology," an official apology to all Jews in Slovakia who had suffered deportation during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The Cardinal condemned the deportations, which he called "an inhumane act".
In retirement, Korec lived in Nitra and remained active as a writer and adviser.
In February 2014,
Liverpool Hope University, in Britain, awarded him an honorary doctorate for his lifelong achievements on behalf of freedom, democracy and world peace.
Awards
For his proper footing and steadfast faith, he was granted several awards and
honorary doctorates. His life's work was also appreciated at foreign universities, including the
University of Notre Dame
The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...
, in South Bend (1986);
University of Sacred Heart, in Bridgeport (1992); and the
Catholic University in Washington (1993). Other honorary doctorates were awarded to him by the Polish Cardinal
Stefan Wyszynski
Stefan may refer to:
* Stefan (given name)
* Stefan (surname)
* Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname
* Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname
* Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer
* Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...
(2003) and
Liverpool Hope University, UK (2014).
He won in 1993, the state prize of the
French Republic
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
, in 1995 the state award Rad Stur Class and in 1999 the state award
Order of Andrej Hlinka.
Criticism
He was highly criticised by some segments of the community because he was perceived as having a positive attitude towards
Jozef Tiso and the
first Slovak Republic. Critics cite for example the 1990 unveiling of a
commemorative plaque
A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, typically attached to a wall, stone, or other ...
for Tiso in
Banovce nad Bebravou or the memorial service he held for Tiso and the 50th anniversary of Tiso's execution. In August 1997, he publicly defended the exiled historian
Stanislav Durica Milan in connection with the controversial book "History of Slovakia and Slovaks, which advocated several policies from the period of the first Slovak Republic.
Writing
His book production accounts for more than 80 titles each with several editions and is a prominent part of the Slovak Christian literature of the 20th century. His writing is also included in numerous and various Samizdat magazines.
[Samizdat (self-published, Russian самиздат) is the way that civic activists circumvented censorship in countries of the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War. Communist governments severely suppressed samizdat dissidents who issued it, including by imprisonment. Samizdat publications issued only a small number of prints, usually carbon paper on a typewriter. Each reader was encouraged to describe the printed matter. It was so successful that in Czechoslovakia and Romania, the simple possession of a typewriter required a permit, and in all communist countries, access to cyclostyles, copiers and other similar techniques was strictly controlled.] These publications include:
*Philosophical questions of dialectical materialism, 1947.
*The drama of atheistic humanism. Reflections on Christian spirituality.
*The origin of man, (
Samizdat, 1949)
*The responsibility of Sciences, (Samizdat, 1971)
*Over the origin and development of life, (Samizdat, 1971)
*Salvation in Christ, (Samizdat, 1972)
*In the light of the Good News. (Samizdat, 1985)
*Christ the priest, (Samizdat, 1987)
*The mission of the priest, (Samizdat, 1987)
*Church amid challenges, (
Samizdat, 1987)
*Church of development, (Samizdat, 1987)
*Reflections on man, Bratislava, I-II, 1992/1993 3rd ed. 1992 (formerly CA, 1986).
*Who is the man. In: (Slovak views, 1993), no. 1
*Cyril and Methodius tradition today. In: (Slovak views, 1993, no. 7)
*Philosopher of common sense. In: (
Verbum
Verbum may refer to:
*Word, the smallest element that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content
*Verb, from the Latin ''verbum'' meaning ''word'', is a word (part of speech) that in syntax conveys an action or a state of being
...
, 2000, no. 4), pp. 65–88.
See also
*
Jesuit cardinal
Jesuit priests at the time of their solemn and final profession in the Society of Jesus promise to "never strive or ambition, not even indirectly, to be chosen or promoted to any prelacy or dignity in or outside the Society; and I will do my best n ...
References
Bibliography
*
*
External links
Catholic Hierarchy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Korec, Jan Chryzostom
1924 births
2015 deaths
People from Partizánske District
Slovak Jesuits
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Slovakia
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Slovakia
Slovak cardinals
Roman Catholic bishops in Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees
Slovak prisoners and detainees
Prisoners and detainees of Czechoslovakia
Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II
Jesuit cardinals
Bishops of Nitra