News

Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Jesuit Fr Cyril Vasiľ as the new Secretary of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches. Until now he has been Rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. The Holy Father has also appointed him titular Archbishop of Ptolemais in Libya.

Biography

Fr Cyril Vasiľ, S.J., was born on 10 April 1965 in Košice, Slovakia. He attended the University of Bratislava's School of Theology from 1982 to 1987.

He was ordained priest in 1987. He entered the Society of Jesus on 15 October 1990 and was solemnly professed in 2001.

He earned a license in canon law (JCL) in 1989 and a doctorate (JCD) in 1994, both from the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome.

In 2002 he was elected Dean of the Faculty of Oriental Canon Law and Pro-Rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute. In May 2007 he was appointed Rector of the Pontifical Oriental Institute.

He is a consultor to the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People. He attended the Synod of Bishops in 2005 as an expert. He is a visiting professor at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and the Universities of Bratislava and Trnava. In 2003 he was named spiritual counsellor to the International Union of the Guides and Scouts of Europe.

In addition to Slovak, he knows Latin, Italian, English, Russian, Ukrainian, French, German, Spanish, Greek and Old Church Slavonic.

He is the author of a number of books and articles and is a collaborator of the Vatican Radio.

Source:
"Nomina del Segretario della Congregazione per le Chiese Orientali, Bollettino della Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, 7 May 2009.