Ján Vojtaššák

Ján Vojtaššák (14 November 18774 August 1965) was a Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Spiš. He was imprisoned by the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1951. A case for his beatification is ongoing but has attracted opposition due to his complicity in the Holocaust in Slovakia.

Early life Ján Vojtaššák was born in 1877 in Zákamenné. He was ordained a bishop, alongside Karol Kmeťko and Marián Blaha, in 1921. Vojtaššák considered Andrej Hlinka his role model.

Slovak State Vojtaššák was the official Catholic representative to the Slovak Diet during the Axis Slovak State regime and also served as Deputy Chairman of the parliament. Vojtaššák personally signed documents for his diocese to take over the Baldovce spa from its original Jewish owners. When the deportation of Jews from Slovakia to Poland was discussed in March 1942, Vojtaššák did not oppose the deportation but merely asked that Jews who had converted to Christianity be settled separately from those who continued to practice Judaism. On 15 May, parliament approved Decree 68/1942, which retroactively legalized the deportation of Jews (which had begun in March), authorized the removal of their citizenship, and regulated exemptions. Vojtaššák, who was at the time Deputy Chairman, spoke during that debate without opposing the deportation.

Vatican diplomat Giuseppe Burzio wrote to Cardinal Luigi Maglione that Vojtaššák had reportedly said in a private meeting that the Church should not interfere in the Slovak State's persecution of the Jews because they were Slovakia's greatest enemies. Burzio wrote that Vojtaššák had a reputation for excessive nationalism and that he should not be expected to be sympathetic to Jews.

Proposed beatification

In 1995, Pope John Paul II suggested that Vojtaššák should be canonized, which was opposed by Slovak and Israeli historians and the Jewish community. The historians presented evidence of his involvement in the Holocaust in an open letter to the Vatican. Jaroslav Franek, the president of the , said "Bishop Vojtaššák failed morally both as a person and a politician". The case for his beatification was restarted and is ongoing .