Bishop Bizjak was born as the eldest son into a Roman Catholic family with four children in the present day Municipality of Ajdovščina in the Slovenian Littoral region.

[1] After finishing primary school, which he attended in his native Col (1953–1958) and Ajdovščina (1958–1961), Jurij graduated a Minor Seminary in Vipava with the secondary education in 1965 and was admitted to the Major Theological Seminary in Ljubljana and in the same time joined the Theological Faculty at the University of Ljubljana, where he studied from 1965 until 1972[1] and was ordained as priest on June 29, 1971,[2] while completing his philosophical and theological studies.

Bizjak was engaged in the pastoral work and served as priest in Sežana, Ilirska Bistrica and Planina nad Ajdovščino from 1971 until 1976, when he continued his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, Italy with a bachelor's degree in biblical theology in 1979 and then – at the Pontifical Urbaniana University – a Doctor of Theology degree in 1983.

During 1990–1991 he studied in Jerusalem and after returning continued to work as professor, parish priest, and spiritual director at the Major Theological Seminary in Ljubljana.

Marko Rupnik, all of the bishops of Slovenia, including Bizjak, signed a letter condemning "all of Rupnik's acts of emotional, sexual, and spiritual violence and gross abuse of the sacrament of reconciliation" and stating "We support the superiors in their quest for truth and justice.