We present Rafko Mihael Vodeb (July 26, 1922, Dolenja vas pri Artičah – July 5, 2002,
Maribor), a priest, art historian, poet, translator and editor who was a man of many gifts and
a multiculturalist. He attended primary school in Artiče, grammar school in Maribor, accomplished master's degree in philosophy and theology (licentiate) at the Pontifical Urbanian
University in Rome (1941–1948), studied (1958–1962) art history and archeology and
in 1962 graduated at the Université catholique in Louvain (Leuvna). In Rome, he was a deputy director at the Pontificio collegio Urbano (1949–1958), a lecturer in missionary art
and archeology at the University of Urbaniana (1962–1971), participated in the Slovenian
broadcasts of Vatican Radio (1948–1958), and hosted broadcasts in 1964–1971. In 1971
he returned to Slovenia and became a lecturer in art history, missiology and apologetics
at the Maribor Unit of the Faculty of Theology in Ljubljana, in the 1980s he lectured only
on art history and the protection of sacral heritage. In 1973–1974 he was the editor of the
family magazine Nova mladika, in 1974–1986 the editor-in-chief of the magazine Znamenje,
in 1976–1982 the secretary and editor of the Mohorjeva družba in Celje. In 1988 he joined
the Catholic Charismatic Renewal or the spiritual stream Renewal in the Spirit and engaged in pastoral work there primarily as a priest until his death, and in 1996–1997 also as the
editor of the paper Prenova.
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