Archbishop Cyril Vasil'

His Excellency Monsignor Cyril Vasiľ, SJ, Eparchial Archbishop of Košice, was born on April 10, 1965, in Košice. He comes from the family of a Greek Catholic priest, and his older brother, Michal, is also a Greek Catholic priest—specifically, a protopresbyter. He spent his youth in the villages of Nižný Čaj and later Zdoba, where his father served as the parish priest. He attended secondary school in Košice (at Kováčska Street 28), where he successfully passed his final examinations. After graduation, he heeded the call of Jesus Christ to the priesthood. He completed his theological studies at the Faculty of Theology (CMBF) in Bratislava between 1982 and 1987. His personal gifts and abilities became even more evident during his time at the faculty. He was ordained a priest on June 14, 1987, in Prešov by Bishop Slavomír Miklovš of Križevci, as the Greek Catholic Church did not have its own bishop at the time. In August 1987, with the permission of the then-Ordinary of Prešov, Ján Hirka, he left for Italy to begin studies at the Faculty of Canon Law of the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. In December 1989, he obtained a licentiate in canon law and began the preparatory year for his doctorate. However, in October 1990, he interrupted his studies to enter the novitiate of the Society of Jesus in Genoa. After returning to Rome in 1992, he resumed his studies and, in December 1994, earned a doctorate in canon law from the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome. He became an accomplished canonist with extensive knowledge of the legal norms governing the Eastern Catholic Churches. In 1997, he obtained a diploma in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University. That same year, he completed his habilitation at the Faculty of Theology of Palacký University in Olomouc. In 2000, he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Law; in 2004, Vice-Rector; and in May 2007, Rector of the entire Pontifical Institute. Concurrently, Fr. Cyril Vasiľ SJ serves as a consultor to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts. He has also been successful in the field of education. He is a professor at the renowned Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and at the Faculty of Theology of Trnava University in Bratislava. Listing even a portion of his scholarly output goes beyond the scope of this profile. He is the author of numerous books and articles in the fields of canon law, church history, spiritual theology, and more. Finally, he collaborates with the Slovak section of Vatican Radio, where his reflections on current topics regarding church life and the Eastern Rite are regularly broadcast. He received episcopal ordination on June 14, 2009, in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome through the laying on of hands by Slavomír Miklovš, Bishop Emeritus of Križevci. At the same time, the Holy Father Benedict XVI elevated him to the rank of archbishop of the titular see of Ptolemais in Libya.