Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Bishop Antal Majnek. The auxiliary bishop has been appointed the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese.
On Friday, January 28, 2022 the Vatican reported that Pope Francis had accepted the resignation of His Excellency Antal Majnek, O.F.M., Bishop of the Diocese of Mukachevo of the Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine. At the same time, the Holy Father appointed the Auxiliary Bishop of the Mukachevo Diocese, the Most Reverend Mykola Luchok, O.P. the Apostolic Administrator of the vacant seat ad nutum Sanctae Sedis (until revoked by the Apostolic See).
The Mukachevo diocese and its bishops
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Mukachevo is part of the Lviv Metropolitan Church of the Latin Rite and covers parishes and structures in Transcarpathia. In 1993, St. John Paul II founded the Apostolic Administration of Transcarpathia, and appointed Archbishop Antonio Franco, who was the Apostolic Nuncio at that time, to be its Apostolic Administrator. He was succeeded in 1997 by Bishop Antal Majnek, who was appointed Auxiliary Bishop at the end of 1995. After St. John Paul II established the Diocese of Mukachevo on March 27, 2002, Bishop Antal became its first Ordinary. He turned 70 in November.
Bishop Mykola Luchok
The appointment of an auxiliary bishop was announced in the Vatican on November 11, 2019. Bishop Mykola Luchok was born on March 26, 1974 in Mukachevo. In 1994 he entered the Dominican Order, where he made solemn vows in 2000. He studied philosophy and theology at the college of his order in Krakow, Poland. After being ordained a priest on June 24, 2003, father Mykola served as a priest in Yalta, St. Petersburg, Chortkiv, Lviv and Hmelnickij. The episcopal ordination took place on December 10, 2019 in Mukachevo.
