Aleksander Kazimierz Bereśniewicz (16 June 1823 – 4 June 1902) was a Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Kujawy-Kaliska from 1882 to 1902.

Biography

Bereśniewicz was born in Szwelnia. When he was 10 years old, he began his education with the Bernardines in

Dotnuva Dotnuva (formerly , , ) is a small town with a 2003 population of 775 in central Lithuania, 10 km northwest of Kėdainiai, in the Kėdainiai district municipality. It is located on the Dotnuvėlė River. The geographical center of Lithuania, ...

. He was later educated at

Kėdainiai Kėdainiai () is one of the oldest List of cities in Lithuania, cities in Lithuania. It is located north of Lithuania's second largest city Kaunas on the banks of the Nevėžis River. Kėdainiai were first mentioned in the 1372 Livonian Chronicle ...

. In 1839, he began attending the diocesan seminary of the

Diocese of Samogitia The Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kaunas () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Lithuania. The episcopal see is in Kaunas, the second-largest city in Lithuania. The archdiocese's motherchurch and cat ...

, located in

Varniai Varniai (; Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Varnē'') is a city in the Telšiai County, western Lithuania. In the Middle Ages the city was known as Medininkai (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Medėninkā''). Etymology ''Medininkai'' or ''M ...

. He first learnt theology at the theological academy in Vilnius, transferring to

Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy The Imperial Roman Catholic Theological Academy () was an institution of higher education preparing Roman Catholic theologians in the Russian Empire. The academy granted master's and doctorate degrees in theology and was designed to prepare clergy ...

in 1842. After obtaining a

magister degree A magister degree (also magistar, female form: magistra; from , "teacher") is an academic degree used in various systems of higher education. The magister degree arose in medieval universities in Europe and was originally equal to the doctorate; ...

in theology, he was appointed a professor of

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Chu ...

and of the Latin language for the diocesan seminary at Varniai on 16 September 1845. He was ordained a priest on 10 September 1847. In 1850, Bereśniewicz was appointed regent of the diocesan seminary in Varniai. He moved to

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

in 1853 at the request of the Russian government, where he was made the prefect of a school. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Samogitia and titular bishop of Maximianopolis by

Pope Pius IX Pope Pius IX (; born Giovanni Maria Battista Pietro Pellegrino Isidoro Mastai-Ferretti; 13 May 1792 – 7 February 1878) was head of the Catholic Church from 1846 to 1878. His reign of nearly 32 years is the longest verified of any pope in hist ...

in 1858; he was consecrated on 27 February 1859 in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

by Wacław Żyliński. He served as rector of the Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy between 1860 and 1864, and was appointed

vicar capitular A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic part ...

of the Diocese of Samogitia in 1875. Bereśniewicz was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Kujawy-Kaliska on 15 March 1882. He assumed control of the diocese on 1 July 1883. During his tenure as bishop of Kujawy-Kaliska, he rebuilt the diocesan seminary and helped to renovate the cathedral in Włocławek. On 8 March 1897,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...

appointed Bereśniewicz a prelate of the

papal household The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremon ...

and an assistant to the papal throne. He resigned as bishop of Kujawy-Kaliska on 15 March 1902 and died in Włocławek on 4 June of the same year. He was buried at the cathedral in Włocławek.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bereśniewicz, Aleksander Kazimierz 1823 births 1902 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Russian Empire 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Russian Empire