His Grace, The Most Rev. Milan Lach, SJ, Bishop of Parma

Bishop Milan Lach, SJ, is the fifth and current bishop of the Eparchy of Parma.
           
He was born Nov. 18, 1973, in Kezmarok, Czechoslovakia, in present-day Slovakia.

From 1992 to 1995, he attended the Greek Catholic Theological Faculty of Presov, Slovakia; in 1995, he entered the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in Trnava, Slovakia.

After studies in the theological faculty of the University of Trnava (1997-2001), Bishop Milan Chautur, CSsR, of Kosice ordained him a priest for the Society of Jesus in Kosice, Slovakia, July 1, 2001.
           
From 2001 to 2003, he worked at the Center of Spirituality East-West of Michal Lacko in Kosice. He was superior of the same center, from 2009 to 2011. In addition to administering the center and organizing its conference, he established the center’s library fund.
           
He began his studies at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome in 2004, and he earned a doctorate in 2009.
           
While in Rome, he served as the spiritual director at the Pontifical Collegium “Russicum” and as an assistant chaplain of the Federation of Scouts of Europe.
          
Since 2010, he served as a member of the Council of Rectors for the theological journal, “Verba Theologica.”  He also taught theology for one semester at the Catholic university in Kosice.
           
Within his Jesuit community, he served as a provincial counselor as of Dec. 30, 2009, and as a delegate for the formation of Jesuit scholastics as of Jan. 1, 2012.
           
Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of Presov April 19, 2013. He was ordained to the episcopacy June 1, 2013, in Ľutina, Slovakia. Since 2016, he has been a visitor of the seminaries and Eastern-rite colleges in Rome for the Vatican’s Congregation for Eastern Churches.
           
Pope Francis appointed Bishop Lach apostolic administrator sede vacante of Parma June 24, 2017. About a year later, Pope Francis appointed him the fifth bishop of Parma June 1, 2018,
           
He was enthroned at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Parma June 30, 2018. He is the youngest, as well as the first European-born bishop of Parma.