Bishop Ján Eugen Kočiš (25 June 1926 – 4 December 2019) was a Slovak-Czech Ruthenian Greek Catholic hierarch, who served as a titular bishop of

Abrittum Dobrich ( bg, Добрич ; ro, Bazargic, tr, Hacıoğlu Pazarcık) is the 9th most populated city in Bulgaria, the administrative centre of Dobrich Province and the capital of the region of Southern Dobrudzha. It is located in the northeas ...

and an auxiliary bishop of the

Ruthenian Catholic Apostolic Exarchate of Czech Republic The Apostolic Exarchate of the Greek Catholic Church in the Czech Republic is an Eastern Catholic institution overseeing Catholics of byzantine-slavonic rite in the Czech Republic. It uses the localized Byzantine Rite in archaic Church Slavonic l ...

from 24 April 2004 until 7 October 2006.

Life

Bishop Kočiš was born as a youngest child among 8 children in the Greek-Catholic family of Juraj Kočiš in the Michalovce District of the Eastern Slovakia, but he grew up in

Trebišov Trebišov ( hu, Tőketerebes; german: Trebischau; russian: Требишев) is a small industrial town in the easternmost part of Slovakia, with a population of around 25,000. The town is an administrative, economic and cultural center with machi ...

. After his graduation of school education, he completed his study as the teacher in the Pedagogical College in

Michalovce Michalovce (; hu, Nagymihály, german: Großmichel, Romani: ''Mihalya'', Yiddish: ''Mikhaylovets'' or ''Mykhaylovyts''; uk, Михайлівці) is a town on the Laborec river in eastern Slovakia. Originally named after the Archangel St Micha ...

(1942–1946) and worked in this profession a one year in Malá Tŕňa. In 1947 he joined the Theological Seminary in

Prešov Prešov (, hu, Eperjes, Rusyn and Ukrainian: Пряшів) is a city in Eastern Slovakia. It is the seat of administrative Prešov Region ( sk, Prešovský kraj) and Šariš, as well as the historic Sáros County of the Kingdom of Hungary. With ...

, where he studied until prohibition of the Greek-Catholic Church in Czechoslovakia in 1950 and the beginning of religion persecution. Kočiš was clandestinely ordained as a

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 partic ...

on 1 January 1951, a short time before his was forced to make a compulsory service in the military camps for forced labour (1951–1953). After ordination he served as a clandestine priest, but officially worked as a baker, excavator driver, worker, until his arrest and imprisonment in 1958 by the Communist

Czechoslovak State Security State Security ( cs, Státní bezpečnost, sk, Štátna bezpečnosť) or StB / ŠtB, was the secret police force in communist Czechoslovakia from 1945 to its dissolution in 1990. Serving as an intelligence and counter-intelligence agency, it d ...

for four years. Then he was released, but with prohibition to live in Slovakia and remained in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. In this time, on 3 December 1967, he was clandestine

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different gro ...

to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

by Felix Maria Davídek (but this consecration, among others, made by this bishop, wasn't recognised by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

). With The

Prague Spring The Prague Spring ( cs, Pražské jaro, sk, Pražská jar) was a period of political liberalization and mass protest in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. It began on 5 January 1968, when reformist Alexander Dubček was elected First ...

and a period of political

liberalization Liberalization or liberalisation (British English) is a broad term that refers to the practice of making laws, systems, or opinions less severe, usually in the sense of eliminating certain government regulations or restrictions. The term is used m ...

in Czechoslovakia, Msgr. Kočiš returned to an active pastoral service as a close cooperator to Ján Hirka. Also from 1991 until 1993 he served as a parish priest in Ďurďoš. In January 1993, he was appointed as a vicar for the Greek-Catholics in the

with the residence in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

and with the creation of the

in 1996, he became a

Protosyncellus A protosyncellus or protosynkellos ( el, πρωτοσύγκελλος) is the principal deputy of the bishop of an eparchy for the exercise of administrative authority in an Eastern Orthodox or Eastern Catholic church. The equivalent position in t ...

of this ecclesiastical structure. On 24 April 2004 Msgr. Kočiš was appointed and on 15 May 2004 was

"sub conditione" to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

as an auxiliary bishop of the

and the titular bishop of

. The principal

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churches ...

was Bishop Đura Džudžar. After his retirement in 2006 he returned to his native Slovakia and resided in

. He died on 4 December 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kočiš, Ján Eugen 1926 births 2019 deaths People from Pozdišovce Czechoslovak prisoners and detainees Slovak prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Czechoslovakia Czech bishops Ruthenian Catholic bishops Slovak Greek Catholic bishops Slovak Eastern Catholics Czech Eastern Catholics 20th-century Eastern Catholic bishops 21st-century Eastern Catholic bishops