Priesthood and persecution Tkáč was consecrated in 1961 by the Bishop of Trnava
Ambróz Lazík. Following the mandatory military service, Tkáč worked in the archive of the Košice Diocese. On 23 October 1974 Tkáč criticized the state of the church at an internal meeting. His speech was broadcast by
Vatican Radio and
Radio Free Europe. The Communist regime punished Tkáč by withdrawing state consent for Tkáč to preach. As a result, Tkáč made a living as a tram driver and lumberjack. In 1983, following a temporary improvement of the relationship between the Church and the regime, Tkáč was again granted permission to work as a priest and was assigned to the parish in the
Červenica village.
Bishop and archbishop of Košice Following the
Velvet Revolution,
Pope John Paul II assigned Tkáč to the role of Bishop of Košice, which had been vacant since the death of
Jozef Čársky in 1962 due to the resistance of the Communist regime to the appointment of a new bishop. In 1995 the Košice Diocese was promoted to archdiocese, with Tkáč becoming its first archbishop. As archbishop he opened a new house for priests in
Veľký Šariš, renovated the seminary in Košice, established new parishes and presided over the construction of 80 new churches. He was also instrumental in the establishment of a
Carmelite monastery at
Sídlisko KVP. In 1997, he defended
Jozef Tiso, the fascist president of World War II-era
Slovak Republic (1939–1945) and relativized his role in the Holocaust, claiming that "rich and powerful" Jews living overseas did not do enough to save the European Jews. In 2009 Tkáč reached the age of 75 and, following canonical law, submitted his resignation to
Pope Benedict XVI, who accepted it in 2010. Tkáč was replaced by Bernard Bober, who had been his auxiliary bishop since 1992. Tkáč continued to assist Bober in the capacity of an archbishop emeritus until his death on 23 May 2023. == Personal life and death ==