Antoni Laubitz (7 June 1861 – 17 May 1939) was a Polish bishop of the Roman Catholic Church, a social activist, and an auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno.

Early life

Laubitz was born in Pakość. He attended school in Inowrocław,

Trzemeszno Trzemeszno (german: Tremessen) is a town in Gniezno County, west-central Poland belonging to the group of the oldest settlements in the region. The town's name derives from an Old Polish word “Trzemcha” meaning the flower of the "Bird’s C ...

and Poznań. In Saint Mary Magdalene High School in Poznań he made friends with Jan Kasprowicz. He studied theology at Würzburg and in Gniezno. He took holy orders in 1888 and started to work as a priest and a teacher of religion in Inowrocław.

Activities

Thanks to him, for the 900th anniversary of the martyrdom of Adalbert of Prague (called Saint Wojciech), a monument to the patron saint of Poland was constructed in Inowrocław. On his initiative the romanesque church of the Saint Virgin Mary (called "the Ruin"), which was destroyed by the fire in 1834, was renovated. He was a patriot who supported the battle with invaders of Poland, and in 1906 defended the participants of the strike against the policy of

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiastic ...

. He significantly contributed to the emergence and development of " Kuyavian Journal"' edited by

Józef Chociszewski Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the m ...

. He also served as Chairman of the Board of the People's Bank of Inowrocław. In 1920 he moved to Gniezno where he took the position of the parson of the archcathedral parish. In 1924 he was appointed by

Pope Pius XI Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...

an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Gniezno. As with his stay in Inowrocław,

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

was of great importance to him and, among other things, he patronized the expansion of the Caritas structures. On 10 March 1938 he was awarded the Order of Polonia Restituta for 'outstanding contribution in the field of social work' . He died in 1939. He was buried in Gniezno Cathedral. He contributed to the development of the city and is considered a very important figure in the history of Inowrocław. In 1989 his name was given to one of the main streets in Inowrocław.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laubitz, Antoni 1861 births 1939 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland Polish Roman Catholic titular bishops