Metod Pirih

Bishop Metod Pirih (born 9 May 1936) is a Slovenian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the second Bishop of the Diocese of Koper from 16 April 1987 until his retirement on 26 May 2012. Before he was a Coadjutor Bishop of the same Diocese since 25 March 1985 until 16 April 1987.

Mons. Metod Pirih
Bishop Emeritus of Diocese of Koper
Church	Roman Catholic Church
Appointed	16 April 1987
Term ended	26 May 2012
Predecessor	Jenez Jenko
Successor	Jurij Bizjak
Other posts	Coadjutor Bishop of Diocese of Koper (1985–1987)
Orders
Ordination	26 June 1963 (Priest)
Consecration	27 May 1985 (Bishop) by Jenez Jenko
Personal details
Birth name	Metod Pirih
Born	9 May 1936 Locavizza, Kingdom of Italy (present day Lokovec, Slovenia)
Alma mater	University of Ljubljana, Teresianum

Education

Bishop Pirih was born into a Roman Catholic family of Mirko and Štefanija (née Šuligoj) in the present day City Municipality of Nova Gorica,[1] that in this time was governed by an Italians and was baptized at the local church in the day of his birth.[2]

After finishing primary school, which he attended in his native Lokovec in 1948 and graduation a classical gymnasium in Pazin, Croatia in 1956, he was admitted to the Major Theological Seminary in Ljubljana and in the same time joined the Theological Faculty at the University of Ljubljana, where studied from 1956 until 1963[2] and was ordained as priest on June 26, 1963 in Ljubljana for the Diocese of Trieste–Koper (for its Slovenian part),[3] after completed his philosophical and theological studies. In the meantime, he also served his compulsory military service in the Yugoslavian Army.[1]

Pastoral and educational work

After his ordination Fr. Pirih served a short time as a parish priest in Solkan (1963–1964) and after that became a personal assistant to Bishop Jenez Jenko from 1964 until 1974, when he continued his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Theological Faculty Teresianum in Rome, Italy with a master's degree in the camp of a spiritual theology in 1976.

After returning to his homeland, he became a spiritual director at the Major Theological Seminary in Ljubljana (1976–1984), and in 1977 he again became Bishop Jenko's personal assistant. As an educator of future priests, he remained in Ljubljana until 1984, when Bishop Jenko appointed him a Vicar General of the Diocese of Koper. Between 1984 and 1986, he was the head of the Pastoral Service in Koper and the parish administrator of the parish in Podgorje. In the meantime, he also was a lecturer at the University of Ljubljana unit of the Faculty of Theology.[1]

Prelate

On March 25, 1985, he was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the Coadjutor Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Koper. On May 27, 1985, he was consecrated as bishop by the Diocesan Bishop Jenez Jenko and other prelates of the Roman Catholic Church in the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Koper.[3] Two years later, on April 16, 1987 he successed his predecessor.[2]

Bishop Pirih retired on May 26, 2012 after reaching of the age limit of 75 years old.[3]

References

1. "Pirih Metod" (PDF). Primorski slovenski biografski leksikon [The Littoral Slovene Biographical Lexicon (in Slovenian). 11. Goriška Mohorjeva družba [Hermagoras Society of Gorizia]. 1985. p. 670. COBISS 53576.
2. "Upokojeni koprski škof msgr. mag. Metod Pirih". Official Website of the Episcopal Conference of Slovenia (in Slovenian). Retrieved 16 June 2020.
3. "Bishop Metod Pirih". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. David M. Cheney. Retrieved 16 June 2020.