Jozef Tomko
Jozef Tomko (born 11 March 1924) is a Slovak Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples from 1985 to 2001, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1985.
His Eminence Jozef Tomko | |
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President Emeritus of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses | |
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Appointed | 23 October 2001 |
Term ended | 1 October 2007 |
Predecessor | Edouard Gagnon |
Successor | Piero Marini |
Other posts | Cardinal-Priest of Santa Sabina |
Orders | |
Ordination | 12 March 1949 by Luigi Traglia |
Consecration | 15 September 1979 by Pope John Paul II |
Created cardinal | 25 May 1985 |
Rank | Cardinal-Priest |
Personal details | |
Born | Udavské, Czechoslovakia (Present day Slovakia) | 11 March 1924
Nationality | Slovak |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
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Motto | ut ecclesia aedificetur |
Coat of arms | ![]() |
Biography
Early life and ordination
Styles of Jozef Tomko | |
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Reference style | His Eminence |
Spoken style | Your Eminence |
Informal style | Cardinal |
Jozef Tomko was born 11 March 1924 in Udavské, near Humenné, in Czechoslovakia (now part of the Slovak Republic). In 1943 he entered the Theological Faculty of Bratislava, and was sent to Rome to study at the Pontifical Lateran Athenaeum and Pontifical Gregorian University, from where he obtained his doctorates in theology, canon law, and social sciences.[1] Tomko was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Luigi Traglia on 12 March 1949 in St. John Lateran.
Pastoral and academic work
He continued his studies at the Lateran and Gregorian University while doing pastoral work in Rome and Porto e Santa Rufina until 1979. From 1950 to 1965, he served as vice-rector and later rector of the Pontifical Nepomucenum College.[1] He taught at the International University Pro Deo from 1955 to 1956 as well. During this period, Monsignor Tomko was actively involved in establishment of the Slovak Institute of Saints Cyril and Methodius in Rome. He visited several times the Slovak communities in the US, Canada and various European countries.[2] Tomko has for decades regularly addressed Slovak Catholics through Vatican Radio and in recent years also through Catholic TV Lux.[3]
Roman Curia
Tomko was raised to the rank of Privy Chamberlain supernumerary on 5 December 1959, and entered the service of the Roman Curia in 1962, as an adjunct in the Book Censorship Section of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In reference to the more lenient measures taken against dissident theologians, he once remarked, "The electric chair and gas chamber are no more".[4] During the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) he worked as a consultant for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and later became a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Family. Tomko became an Honorary Prelate of His Holiness on 17 June 1970. In addition to his academic duties, he was named Undersecretary of the Sacred Congregation for Bishops in 1974. He was a visiting professor at the Gregorian University 1970-1977.
Bishop
On 12 July 1979, Tomko was appointed Secretary General of the World Synod of Bishops and Titular Archbishop of Doclea by Pope John Paul II.[1] He received his episcopal consecration on the following 15 September from John Paul II himself, in the Sistine Chapel with Archbishop Eduardo Martínez Somalo and Bishop Andrew Gregory Grutka serving as co-consecrators. On 18 October 1979 he became a member of the Pontifical Commission for the interpretation of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council to both liberal and conservative constituencies. Tomko was later named Pro-Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples on 24 April 1985 and Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
Cardinal
John Paul II created him Cardinal-Deacon of Gesù Buon Pastore alla Montagnola in the consistory of 25 May 1985 and was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.[5] During his tenure, the Cardinal became a close confidant of Pope John Paul, and served as a special papal envoy to several religious celebrations and events in an array of different countries. He was named a member of the Presynodal Council for Special Synod of Asian Bishops in September 1995. After ten years' standing as a Cardinal Deacon, he opted for order of Cardinal-Priests (assuming the titular church of S. Sabina) on 29 January 1996.
Eucharistic congresses
Tomko was appointed President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses on 23 October 2001,[5] ending his sixteen-year-long tenure as Prefect of Evangelization of Peoples, becoming prefect emeritus. In this post, he presided over the Holy See's delegation to the Interreligious Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 23 to 24 September 2003. He lost the right to participate in any future papal conclaves upon reaching the age of eighty on 11 March 2004. In the capacity of papal legate he chaired the 48th International Eucharistic Congress in Guadalajara, Mexico in October 2004.
Upon the death of John Paul II on 2 April 2005, Tomko and all major Vatican officials, in accord with custom, automatically lost their positions during the sede vacante. He was later confirmed as President of International Eucharistic Congresses by Pope Benedict XVI on the following 21 April. Cardinal Tomko retired from his post as president on 1 October 2007.
Later work
Pope Benedict XVI established a Commission of Cardinals to investigate recent leaks of reserved and confidential documents on television, in newspapers, and in other communications media. It first met on Tuesday, 24 April 2012. Cardinal Herranz serves as the Chair; the other members are Cardinals Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi.[6]
On 11 August 2012, Pope Benedict XVI nominated Cardinal Tomko as the Special Envoy to the Solemn Jubilee Celebration in Lviv, Ukraine on 8 September 2012, on the occasion of the 600th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Lviv for the Latins.[7]
At the papal inauguration of Pope Francis on 19 March 2013, Cardinal Tomko was one of the six cardinals who made the public act of obedience on behalf of the College of Cardinals to the new pope at his papal inauguration.[lower-alpha 1][8][9]
In February 2015 he attended the Consistory of Cardinals on issues of reform of the Roman Curia.[3]
Works
- Light of Nations (Rome 1972)
- On Missionary Roads, 2007, ISBN 978-1586171650
Honours
- Grand-Croix de l'Ordre de la Couronne de Chene (Luxembourg 1988)[10]
Slovakia : Grand Cross (or 1st Class) of the Order of the White Double Cross (1995)[11]- Grand Cruz de la Orden del Libertador San Martín, Argentina (Buenos Aires 1999).
- The Catholic University of Ruzomberok awarded Cardinal Tomko the honorary title of Doctor Honoris Causa on 26 April 2006.[5]
- Honorary doctorate awarded by the Faculty of Medicine of Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice for contribution to the development of culture, education and humanity in Slovakia, (11 December 2001)
- The Golden Plaque of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic (2009)[12]
Notes
- The other five cardinals were Giovanni Battista Re, Tarcisio Bertone, Joachim Meisner, Renato Raffaele Martino and Francesco Marchisano. Cardinals Re and Bertone represented the cardinal-bishops; Cardinals Martino and Marchisano represented the cardinal-deacons; and Cardinal Meisner along with Cardinal Tomko himself represented the cardinal priests.
References
- "Tomko, Jozef", Catholic News Agency
- "Card. Jozef Tomko", Holy See, 4 May 2004
- "Cardinal Jozef Tomko celebrates 91st birthday", Vatican Radio, 11 March 2015
- TIME Magazine. No More Heresy 15 February 1971
- "J. Em. Cardinal Jozef Tomko, Dr. hc KU", Catholic University in Ruzomberok Archived 17 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- https://web.archive.org/web/20120826235456/http://press.catholica.va/news_services/bulletin/news/29104.php?index=29104&lang=en. Archived from the original on 26 August 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2012. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - press.catholica.va/news_services/bulletin/news/29544.php?index=29544&lang=en - Translator
- Rolandi, Luca (19 March 2013). "Il giorno di Papa Francesco: La messa di inizio pontificato in Piazza San Pietro" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 8 August 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- Inaugural Mass of the Pontificate (Vatican video of Pope Francis' papal inauguration on YouTube
- "J. Em. Mons. Cardinal Jozef Tomko", Conference of Slovak Bishops
- Slovak republic website, State honours Archived 13 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine : 1st Class received in 1995 (click on "Holders of the Order of the 1st Class White Double Cross" to see the holders' table)
- "State Secretary Peter Javorčík received Cardinal Jozef Tomko, Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples", Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Slovak Republic, 21 November 2012
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jozef Tomko. |
- "Tomko Card. Jozef". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
- Catholic-Hierarchy
- Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church
Catholic Church titles | ||
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Preceded by Władysław Rubin |
Secretary General of the World Synod of Bishops 1979–1985 |
Succeeded by Jan Pieter Schotte CICM |
Preceded by Dermot Ryan |
Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples 1985–2001 |
Succeeded by Crescenzio Sepe |
Preceded by Édouard Gagnon PSS |
President of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses 2001–2007 |
Succeeded by Piero Marini |