Bishop of Banská Bystrica
Marián Chovanec was born on September 16, 1957, in Trenčín, in the Diocese of Nitra. He attended the Major Seminary in Bratislava but was expelled for refusing to collaborate with the pro-government association "Pacem in Terris." Subsequently, he worked as a manual laborer, and it was only after seven years that he was permitted to complete his theological studies. He was ordained a priest on June 17, 1989, and incardinated into the Diocese of Nitra. Following his ordination, he served for one year as an assistant pastor at the Nitra-Dolné Mesto parish, and in 1990, he was appointed Archivist and Actuary of the Episcopal Curia of Nitra. In 1994, he obtained a degree in Dogmatic Theology as an external student at the Catholic University of Lublin, Poland. He had already begun teaching Dogmatic Theology at the Theological Institute of Nitra in 1993. On July 22, 1999, he was appointed Titular Bishop of Massita and Auxiliary Bishop of Nitra. He received episcopal consecration on September 18 of that same year. Since 2003, he has also held the position of Vicar General of the Diocese of Nitra. He is currently the Secretary General of the Slovak Bishops' Conference and the President of its Theological Commission.