Stres was born on 15 December 1942 in Donačka Gora.[1] He attended primary school (four years) in his home village, and finished lower secondary school (four years) in Rogaška Slatina. He continued his studies at the Interdiocese Preparatory Seminary in Zagreb, Croatia (Croatian: Interdijecezanska srednja škola za spremanje svećenika v Zagrebu), taking his leaving exam in 1962. He entered the Congregation of the Mission, more commonly known as the Vincentians or Lazarists, on 22 August 1960 in Belgrade, Serbia.[1][2]
After completing his military service in 1963, Stres entered the Faculty of Theology, of the University of Ljubljana, where he completed three years of study. Then he was sent to the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Paris, where he received a Licentiate of Sacred Theology in 1969.[1] During this time, he made his perpetual profession on 28 March 1967 and was ordained a priest on 20 April 1968.[3] He continued his studies at the institute's Faculty of Philosophy and received a M.A. in philosophy in 1972.[1]
The same year, Stres returned to the Ljubljana faculty as graduate student and also as an assistant instructor at the Department of Philosophy; on 1 October 1974 he defended his doctoral thesisDevelopment of the Marxist Understanding of Religion in Postwar Yugoslavia (Slovene: Razvoj marksističnega pojmovanja religije v povojni Jugoslaviji), thereby obtaining his doctorate in theology.[1]
After this Stres returned to Paris for postdoctoral study at the Faculty of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Paris; on 30 November 1984 he obtained his second PhD.[1]
Academic career
Stres was appointed a university instructor on 3 October 1974. He was later appointed an assistant professor (14 February 1977), an associate professor (7 September 1985), and a full professor (26 May 1990).[1] From 1983 to 1993 he was the head of the Department of Philosophy, from 1985 to 1987 and from 1997 to 1999 the vice dean of faculty, and from October 1999 to September 2000 dean of the faculty.[1] During his academic career he wrote 18 books or full-length publications and over 300 research articles.[1]
Career in Church
Between 1988 and 1997, Stres was the provincial visitor to the Yugoslav Province of Congregation of the Mission, and after 1992 to the Slovenian Province of Congregation of the Mission.[1]
From 1985 to 2010 he was also president of the Committee on Justice and Peace of the Slovenian Bishops' Conference.[1]
Stres was also elected president of the Slovenian Bishops' Conference on 11 January 2010 and then again in 2012.[1]
On 31 July 2013, Stres stepped down as the archbishop after the request by the Holy See due to his partial responsibility for the financial crisis of the Maribor Archdiocese. He was involved in its financial matters as the auxiliary bishop of Maribor.[5]