Rep. n° 04/2023
Žilina, February 16, 2023. Today, the Fifteenth anniversary of the founding of the Žilina Diocese was celebrated in the Parish Church of Our Lady of Sorrows in the Vlčince borough in Žilina. On this occasion, His Excellency Mons. Nicola Girasoli, Apostolic Nuncio in Slovakia, celebrated the solemn Holy Mass. It was attended by archbishops, bishops from Slovakia and abroad, priests, deacons, seminarians, consecrated persons and lay people. In addition to the president of the Žilina self-governing region, Erika Jurinová, the mayor of the Žilina town, Peter Fiabáne, the ceremony was also attended by Marek Sobola, Secretary-General of Servare et Manere, at the personal invitation of the Žilina Diocese bishop.
The establishment of the Žilina Diocese was announced on February 14, 2008 in Bratislava by the late Slovak Cardinal Jozef Tomko as a special legate of Pope Benedict XVI. Mons. Tomáš Galis became the first bishop of Žilina. At the end of the solemn ceremony, Bishop Galis expressed his gratitude and appreciation to almost two dozen personalities for helping him in the establishment of the diocese, as well as to those who helped him in its administration and management in the past 15 years. A symbol of Bishop Tomáš’s gratitude were reproductions of an icon from the end of the 19th century, which depicts the patrons of the Žilina diocese, Saints Cyril and Methodius. The icon reproductions were supplied by Servare et Manere and created by Marek Sobola in collaboration with other professions
