Józef Gawlina

Józef Gawlina
Titular archbishop of Madytus
Previous postsBishop of the Military Ordinariate of Poland (1933 – 1947)
Titular bishop of Mariamme (1933–1947)
Orders
Ordination19 June 1921
by Adolf Bertram
Consecration19 March 1933
by August Hlond
Personal details
Born(1892-11-17)17 November 1892
Strzybnik
Died21 September 1964(1964-09-21) (aged 71)
Rome, Italy

Józef Feliks Gawlina (17 November 1982 – 21 September 1964) was a Divisional general in the Polish Armed Forces. He was an ordained priest, Doctor of Theology and from 1933, Catholic bishop in the Military Ordinariate of Poland.[1] After the Second World War, cardinal Hlond gave him the brief to provide pastoral care to the Polish diaspora. In the words of Pope John Paul II, Gawlina was a "bishop - Nomad". He was raised to the rank of Archbishop in 1957. Following his death, the Secretary General of the Second Vatican Council described him as a "real pastor".

Biography

Early life and episcopal career

Gawlina was born in Strzybnik to Franciszek and Joanna Gawlina (née Banas). He first received secondary education at a humanities-oriented gymnasium in Raciborz, transferring to a different gymnasium in Rybnik. After obtaining his matura, he enrolled at the University of Wrocław, where he studied theology. His studies were interrupted twice during World War 1; he was first drafted as a medic into the 11th Grenadier Regiment, with whom he was deployed to France in 1915, and later in 1917 was re-enlisted as part of the Sinai and Palestine campaign, during which he was captured in Damascus. After his release in 1919, he returned to Wrocław,[2] obtaining a doctorate in 1921.[3] He was ordained a priest on 19 March 1921 in Wrocław by Adolf Bertram.[4]

Gawlina first served as a parish priest in Dębniki and Tychy. On 7 July 1924, he was appointed by August Hlond to serve as secretary-general for the Catholic League in the Apostolic Administration of Upper Silesia.[4] In 1927, he was moved to Warsaw to found the Catholic News Agency (KAP), which served to counteract anti-Polish and anti-Catholic sentiment in the German press; it began operating from there on 1 April 1927.[5] While directing the KAP, Gawlina underwent further education in journalism,[6] and received a magister degree in moral theology from the University of Warsaw on 28 June 1928.[7] Returning to the now-Diocese of Katowice in 1929, he was appointed as director of the Diocese's Catholic League, a canon in its cathedral chapter,[6] and as the curator for the Polish province of the Sisters of Mary.[4]

On 14 February 1933, Gawlina was appointed as bishop of the Military Ordinariate of Poland and titular bishop of Mariamme by Pope Pius XI; he was consecrated on 19 March 1933 in the Church of St. Barbara in Chorzów by August Hlond.[6][7]

Self-exile and titular archbishop of Madytus

References

  1. ^ Jurga Tadeusz (1990). Obrona Polski 1939. Warszawa: Instytut Wydawniczy PAX. pp. 768–769. ISBN 83-211-1096-7.
  2. ^ Judycki 2017, pp. 131–132.
  3. ^ Bakalarz 1982, p. 103.
  4. ^ a b c Judycki 2017, p. 132.
  5. ^ Szczepaniak 2015, pp. 182, 185.
  6. ^ a b c Bakalarz 1982, p. 104.
  7. ^ a b "Gawlina Józef (1892-1964)" (in Polish). Military Ordinariate of Poland. 10 April 2025. Retrieved 30 September 2025.

Bibliography


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