Msgr. Jan Vokál became the new bishop of Hradec Králové

Today, on March 3rd 2011, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI appointed Msgr. Jan Vokál as the 25th bishop of the Diocese of Hradec Králové. In accordance with respective regulations of the Code of Canon Law, the newly appointed bishop of Hradec Králové will take charge of his office within four months.

Msgr. Jan Vokál was born on September 25^th 1958 in Hlinsko in Bohemia as the second child of three children of his parents, Jan and Anna Vokál. He was brought up in a Christian family, he was baptised in a local parish of the Nativity of Our Lady. After finishing Secondary School of Electrotechnics in Pardubice he graduated in 1983 at the Czech Technical University in Prague, Faculty of Electrical Engineering; he got a title 'Engineer of Technical Cybernetics'.

In September 1983 he went to Rome where he entered the Pontifical College Nepomucenum. He studied Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical Lateran University. On July 5^th 1988 he was ordained deacon in Ellwangen (Rottenburg-Stuttgard, Germany) by Bishop Jaroslav Škarvada and incardinated into the Diocese of Hradec Králové, which he comes from. For one year he continued with diaconal praxis in the St. Dominic Parish (Northfield) and in the St. Thomas University (St. Paul-Minneapolis, USA). He received the Sacrament of Priesthood from the hands of Pope John Paul II on May 28^th in the St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican.

From 1989 to 1990 he served as a parish vicar in the Epiphany Church (Diocese of Peoria, USA) and on October 1^st 1991 he started to work at the Secretariat of State (Section for General Affairs) in Vatican where he has been working until today. He studied Utroque Jura at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome where he obtained a Licentiate degree in 2005 and a Doctorate degree in 2008. He received a diploma from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (study of marriage causes, 1991-1992) and a diploma from the Congregation for Causes of Saints (study of the postulate causes, 2004-2005). In 2009 he graduated at the Faculty of Law at the Charles University in Prague with specialization in the constitutional law and he received a Doctorate degree in law.

From 1992 to 2005 Jan Vokál served as a personal secretary to Cardinal Corrado Bafile. In 2005 Pope Benedict XVI named him as a coadjutor of the Canon Chapter at the Pontifical Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, where he has been serving as a priest until today. In 1995, 1997 and 2009 he was a member of the papal suite during the pastoral visits of the Holy Father in the Czech Republic. In 1997 he was granted a title 'Chaplain of His Holiness' and in 2007 a title 'Papal Prelate'. On September 28^th 2005 Bishop Dominik Duka OP included him among the canons of honour at the Cathedral Chapter of the Holy Spirit in Hradec Králové. On March 3^rd 2011 the Holy Father appointed him bishop of Hradec Králové.

Msgr. Jan Vokál is fluent in English and Italian, partially in German, Polish and Russian.