John Bukovsky ( Slovak: Ján Bukovský), SVD, named Ján Fukna at birth (18 January 1924 – 18 December 2010), was a Slovakia-born American prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

Biography

Bukovsky was born in Cerová, Slovakia, on 18 January 1924, the fourth of six children. He entered the Society of the Divine Word seminary in

Nitra Nitra (; also known by other #Etymology, alternative names) is a city in western Slovakia, situated at the foot of Zobor Mountain in the valley of the river Nitra (river), Nitra. It is located 95 km east of Bratislava. With a population of ...

, Czechoslovakia, in 1939. The Society sent him to the United States for additional studies in 1947. Ordered to return to Czechoslovakia when the new Communist government revoked his passport, he instead with the help of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley reentered the U.S. from Canada as a legal immigrant. He was ordained in December 1950 in Techny, Illinois, as a priest of the Divine Word Missionaries and became a U.S. citizen a few years later. In 1952 he received a degree in sacred theology from Catholic University. He then pursued an academic career, teaching at St. Mary's Seminary in Techny for 14 years and studying at the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute and earning a degree from the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome in 1966. In the 1970s, while Bukovsky served a six-year term in the office of the General Council of the Society of the Divine Word, an elected position, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli recruited him to join the Secretariat of State. While working there Bukovsky frequently lunched with the pope. He was also named to the Curia's Council for Public Affairs and made several trips to explore relations between the Holy See and the countries of Eastern Europe. For 17 years he headed the Secretariat's Eastern Europe desk. On 18 August 1990,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

named him titular archbishop of Tabalta and

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. He was the first Nuncio to Romania of the post-Communist era. On 20 December 1994, he was appointed the first papal representative to the Russian Federation. Bukovsky had some significant successes there, regaining partial control of the former seminary in St. Petersburg. Bukovsky retired upon the appointment of his successor, Giorgio Zur on 29 January 2000. Pope John Paul named him a member of the

Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, previously named the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity (PCPCU), is a dicastery within the Holy See whose origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently fr ...

and a consultor to the Secretariat of State on 6 June 2002. John_Bukovsky

He died in Techny on 18 December 2010.

Writings

* ''Spomienky spoločníka. Nitra : Spoločnosť krásneho slova'', 2006. . S. 146. * ''Chiesa del martirio, chiesa della diplomazia. : Memorie tra Cecoslovacchia e Vaticano''. Bologna: EDB, 2009. . S. 104.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy: Archbishop John Bukovsky, S.V.D.
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bukovsky, John 20th-century American Roman Catholic titular archbishops 1924 births 2010 deaths Divine Word Missionaries Order Apostolic nuncios to Romania Apostolic nuncios to Russia Czechoslovak emigrants to the United States People from Senica District