Franc Perko

In memoriam

Former Archbishop of the Metropolitan See of Beograd-Smederevo, Msgr. Franc Perko was born in Krka, Slovenia on November 19, 1929. He studied at the Classical Diocesan Lyceum of Ljubljana and was ordained a presbyter at the age of 23 on June 29, 1953, by Msgr. Anton Vovk. After the Faculty of Theology of Ljubljana was barred, he served for nearly two years in the military service. Due to his "hostile propaganda", he was detained for five years, in prisons throughout Beograd, Požarevac, Ljubljana and Ig in Maribor. Following his release, he served as chaplain at Šenèur, Trnovo and finally at Skaruèna. In 1963, he obtained a doctorate following his thesis "Filosofia e Teologia dei SS. Cirillo e Metodio". Faculty member and later dean of the Faculty of Theology of Ljubljana's University, aged 57, he was appointed Archbishop of Beograd–Smederevo, during an extremely difficult period for the country, receiving his episcopal consecration on January 6, 1987, from Pope John Paul II, assisted by Cardinals Eduardo Martínez Somalo and José Tomás Sánchez. The Archbishop resigned the pastoral government of his see aged 71, on March 31, 2001. He died during the early hours of Wednesday, February 20, 2008, after 54 years of priesthood and 21 years of episcopate. His body was interred on Saturday, February 23, inside the Centralno Pokopališèe Žale, in his native country.

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