Bishop Jan Vokál

JUDr. Ing. Jan Vokál was born on 25. 9. 1958 in Hlinsko in Bohemia as the second of three children of Jan and Anna Vokál. He grew up in a Christian family, and received his first sacraments in the local parish of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary. After studying at the Secondary Industrial School of Electrical Engineering in Pardubice, he completed the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague (Ing., field of technical cybernetics, 1983). In September 1983 he left for Rome, where he entered the Pontifical College Nepomucenum. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Lateran University. On 5. 7. 1988, in Ellwangen, Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, Germany, he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Jaroslav Škarvada and incardinated into the Diocese of Hradec Králové, from which he comes. He continued with a year of diaconal practice at St. Dominic Parish in Northfield and at St. Thomas University in the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, USA. He was ordained a priest by Pope Saint John Paul II on 28. 5. 1989 in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. In 1989-1990 he served as parish vicar at Epiphany Church in the Diocese of Peoria, USA, and on 1. 10. 1991 he entered the service of the Secretariat of State, Section for General Affairs, in the Vatican. He studied Utroque Jure at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in 2005 and a doctorate in 2008 (JU.D.). He holds a diploma from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, for the study of matrimonial cases in 1991-1992, and a diploma from the Congregation for Beatification and Canonization, for the study of postulates of causes in 2004-2005. In 2009 he completed rigorous proceedings in constitutional law (JUDr.) at Charles University in Prague. In 1992-2005 he was personal secretary to Cardinal Corrado Bafile. In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him coadjutor of the chapter of canons at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. In 1995, 1997, and 2009 he was a member of the papal entourage during pastoral visits of the Holy Father to the Czech Republic. In 1997 he was granted the title Chaplain of His Holiness, and in 2007 the title papal prelate. On 28. 9. 2005 Bishop Dominik Duka, O.P., included him among the honorary canons of the Cathedral Chapter of the Holy Spirit in Hradec Králové. On 3. 3. 2011 Pope Benedict XVI appointed him the 25th bishop of Hradec Králové. He was ordained bishop by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., on 7. 5. 2011 in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. The co-consecrators were Bishop Dominik Duka, O.P., and Archbishop Erwin Josef Ender. He was installed in the office of diocesan bishop on 14. 5. 2011 in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in Hradec Králové. He is the 25th bishop of Hradec Králové. He speaks English and Italian, and has passive knowledge of German, Polish, and Russian. Within the Czech Bishops' Conference he is a member of the Commission for the Clergy and delegate of the Council for Eucharistic Congresses.