Fr Marjan Kokalj,
SJ, has been appointed the next Provincial of the Jesuit Province of Slovenia
by Fr Arturo Sosa, SJ, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He will
begin his term on Pentecost Monday, 25 May 2026. “I was a little surprised by
this news, although some conversations suggested that it might happen”, Fr
Kokalj told the Slovenian Catholic weekly Družina. “This opens a new
perspective in my life, which I will need to get used to and accept. At the
same time, I feel the responsibility of this new task.”
The incoming Provincial currently serves as Socius and assists in the
governance and coordination of the Province. He is also superior of the Jesuit
community in Dravlje, a district of Ljubljana, director of Založba Dravlje, the
Jesuit publishing house, and editor of both Slovenski jezuiti, the Province’s
magazine, and the annual yearbook Anuarij.
The Jesuit presence in Slovenia dates to 1596, when the
Jesuits established a college in Ljubljana. Over the centuries, that presence
endured the suppression of the Society in the eighteenth century, its
restoration in the nineteenth century and the political upheavals of the
twentieth century. The Province
today includes around 40 Jesuits in communities in Ljubljana and Maribor, about
ten of whom are currently abroad studying or working.
After professing his First Vows, Fr Kokalj’s formation
included studies in philosophy in Padua, Regency in Ljubljana, and theological
studies in Rome, where he obtained a licentiate in pastoral theology with a
specialisation in communication. Following his diaconate, he served in parish
ministry as assistant priest in Dravlje. He was ordained to the priesthood in
Ljubljana in 2010. He completed Tertianship in Manila in the Philippines and
subsequently became parish priest of the newly established university parish of
the Diocese of Maribor and director of Jesuit College Magis, a Jesuit student
residence and pastoral centre in Maribor.
Born on 5 January
1969, the ninth of eleven children, Fr Kokalj entered the Society of Jesus in
2000 after completing degrees in Slovenian language and literature and in
ethnology and cultural anthropology at the University of Ljubljana. Before
entering the Society, he worked in the culture department of the Municipality
of Škofja Loka, where he was involved in folk theatre and directed the Škofja
Loka Passion Play.
Asked what brings him the greatest joy in his Jesuit
life, Fr Kokalj told Družina, Slovenia’s Catholic weekly: “What makes me
happiest is the awareness of being anchored in Christ – the fundamental,
inexhaustible source of meaning in my life, which gives me freedom, breadth and
courage in my apostolic work. This way of life also brings me joy through
contact with diverse people and situations, where I witness human struggle,
suffering and joy, and God’s work within them. And community life, where I feel
at home.”