The Catholic Church in Slovakia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
According to the 2021 census, around 55.8% [1] [2] of the total population was Latin (Roman) Catholic and another 3.8% is Greek Catholic. The country is divided into 8 Latin dioceses including 3 archdioceses, and there is also a separate Metropolitan jurisdiction for those of the Byzantine Rite, see Slovak Greek Catholic Church.
In 2020, there were over 3,000 priests and almost 2,000 nuns serving across more than 1,500 parishes. [3]
By taking the percentage of the current practitioners of the Vatican City-led Catholic Christianity as an indicator, Slovakia (59.8% practicing Catholics) is third most Catholic-majority Slavic polity in Europe after Poland (71.3% practicing Catholics) and Croatia (79.0% practicing Catholics).
Eparchy is an ecclesiastical unit in Eastern Christianity that is equivalent to a diocese in Western Christianity. An eparchy is governed by an eparch, who is a bishop. Depending on the administrative structure of a specific Eastern Church, an eparchy can belong to an ecclesiastical province, but it can also be exempt. Each eparchy is divided into parishes, in the same manner as a diocese in Western Churches. Historical development of eparchies in various Eastern Churches was marked by local distinctions that can be observed in modern ecclesiastical practices of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches and Eastern Catholic Churches.
An ecclesiastical province is one of the basic forms of jurisdiction in Christian churches, including those of both Western Christianity and Eastern Christianity, that have traditional hierarchical structures. An ecclesiastical province consists of several dioceses, one of them being the archdiocese, headed by a metropolitan bishop or archbishop who has ecclesiastical jurisdiction over all other bishops of the province.
The Melkite Greek Catholic Church, or Melkite Byzantine Catholic Church, is an Eastern Catholic church in full communion with the Holy See as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Its chief pastor is Patriarch Youssef Absi, headquartered at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Dormition in Damascus, Syria. The Melkites, who are Byzantine Rite Catholics, trace their history to the early Christians of Antioch, formerly part of Syria and now in Turkey, of the 1st century AD, where Christianity was introduced by Saint Peter.
Hungarian Catholics, like elsewhere, are part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome.
The Catholic Church in Iran is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the pope in Rome.
The Slovak Greek Catholic Church or Byzantine Catholic Church in Slovakia, is a sui iuris (autonomous) Eastern Catholic church based in Slovakia. As a particular church of the Catholic Church, it is in full communion with the Holy See. The church is organised as a single ecclesiastical province with one metropolitan see. Its liturgical rite is the Byzantine Rite. In 2008 in Slovakia alone, the Greek Catholic Church in Slovakia had some 350,000 faithful, 374 priests and 254 parishes. In 2017, the Catholic Church counted 207,320 Greek Catholics in Slovakia worldwide, representing roughly one percent of all Eastern Catholics.
Stephen John Kocisko was the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh, the American branch of the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church
The Archdiocese of Bratislava is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western Slovakia including Bratislava and the western Trnava regions. It has its seat in Bratislava. The current archbishop is Stanislav Zvolenský and auxiliary bishop is Jozef Haľko.
The Archdiocese of Košice is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in eastern Slovakia, with its seat in Košice. It covers the central and eastern parts of the Prešov and Košice regions, with an area of 10,403 km2. The diocese's area has a total population of 1,153,505 people, of which around 61% were of Catholic faith as of 2012. The Cathedral of St. Elizabeth serves as the seat of the diocese.
The Diocese of Banská Bystrica is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in central Slovakia. Its seat is in Banská Bystrica. On Tuesday 20 November 2012, according to biographical information in a press release from the Holy See Press Office's Vatican Information Service (VIS), Pope Benedict XVI appointed Auxiliary Bishop Marián Chovanec of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nitra, Titular Bishop of Massita, as Bishop-elect of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Banská Bystrica. Bishop Chovanec was born on 16 September 1957 in Trenčin, Slovakia, a part of the Diocese of Nitra. He was expelled from the Seminary in Bratislava, Slovakia, because he had refused to cooperate with the Government-backed Association "Pacem in Terris". He then worked as a laborer. After seven years, he was able to conclude his theological studies and be ordained a priest in 1989; he became an Auxiliary Bishop of Nitra in 1999 and Vicar General in 2003 and is active in the Slovak Bishops' Conference.
The Archdiocese of Trnava is a Latin Catholic archdiocese in western Slovakia including bigger part of the Trnava, and parts of Nitra and Trenčín regions. It has its seat in Trnava. Although it is an archdiocese, it is not a metropolitan and is instead a suffragan of Bratislava. In 2013 Pope Francis appointed Auxiliary Bishop Ján Orosch as the next Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Trnava.
The Eparchy of Bratislava is an eparchy (diocese) of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church that is situated in western Slovakia. It's episcopal seat is the Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in the city of Bratislava. The eparchy is a suffragan of the metropolitan Archeparchy of Prešov. The eparchy's territorial remit includes the regions of Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra, Trenčín, Žilina and Banská Bystrica which total around 33,300 km2. As an Eastern Catholic church, it uses the Byzantine Rite in the Slovak and Church Slavonic languages.
The Archeparchy of Prešov is an archeparchy of the Slovak Greek Catholic Church which is an Eastern Catholic particular church of the Catholic Church that is in full communion with the Holy See. The archeparchy is the metropolitan see of the Slovak Greek Catholic ecclesiastical province which covers the whole of Slovakia. The archeparch is also, ex officio, the metropolitan bishop of the metropolis. The geographical remit of the archeparchy itself is confined to the Prešov Region of Slovakia. The archeparch is currently Jonáš Maxim. The cathedral church of the archeparcy is the cathedral of St. John the Baptist which is situated in Prešov. As an Eastern Catholic church, it uses the Byzantine Rite in the Slovak and Church Slavonic languages.
St Charles Borromeo Seminary is the Roman Catholic Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Košice in Košice, Slovakia.