Antoni Naumczyk (1925 – April 2, 1969), was a priest of the
Old Catholic Church in Poland, and
general vicar, doctor of theology, and lecturer of the Christian Theology Academy in Warsaw.
Biography
He was born in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. In 1929 he came with his parents to
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
and lived in Postawy. In 1945 in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
he passed
matura
or its translated terms (''Mature'', ''Matur'', , , , , , ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, C ...
and ascended to
Congregation of the Mission. From 1945 to 1950 he studied at the Theology Institute of Priest Missionaries and in the Faculty of Theology on
Jagiellonian University.
From 1950 he was a
presbyter
Presbyter () is an honorific title for Christian clergy. The word derives from the Greek ''presbyteros,'' which means elder or senior, although many in the Christian antiquity would understand ''presbyteros'' to refer to the bishop functioning a ...
in the Roman Catholic Church. From 1950 to 1957 he worked as a lecturer at the Theology Institute of Priest Missionaries. In 1953 he received his
doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''li ...
of
theology
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
from Jagiellonian University.
In 1957 he had to leave the clergy of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, due to exposure of his intimate contacts with women and proof he stole valuable documents from the library of the missionaries
cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
in
Stradom.
With help of the Office of Confessions he became an
Old Catholic
The terms Old Catholic Church, Old Catholics, Old-Catholic churches or Old Catholic movement designate "any of the groups of Western Christians who believe themselves to maintain in complete loyalty the doctrine and traditions of the Great Chu ...
priest in 1958 and adjunct of the Christian Theology Academy in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. He continued his academic career as an Old Catholic theologian. In 1960 he attained the rank of
docent
The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de con ...
. In 1966 he became Chair of the Section of Practical Theology of Christian Theology Academy.
From 1960 to 1965 he was administrator of the
Old Catholic Church in Poland's Diocese of Warsaw. In 1965 he was one of the originators in removing Maksymilian Rode from his function as suzerain of the Polish Catholic Church. Naumczyk was typified as his successor, but he denied becoming a bishop, and so Julian Pękala became the bishop. At this time, Naumczyk was protonotary apostolic and vicar of the Polish Catholic Church. From 1965 he was amanuensis of Council and Presidium of Council of the Polish Catholic Church in the
Polish People's Republic
The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...
.
He was considered to be an
éminence grise
An ''éminence grise'' () or grey eminence is a powerful decision-maker or adviser who operates "behind the scenes", or in a non-public or unofficial capacity.
This phrase originally referred to François Leclerc du Tremblay, the right-hand man ...
of the Old Catholic Church in Poland from 1965 to 1969. He died with his family (Ewa, Irena and Jerzy Naumczyk) in the
crash
Crash or CRASH may refer to:
Common meanings
* Collision, an impact between two or more objects
* Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond
* Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating
* Couch su ...
of an
Antonov An-24
The Antonov An-24 (Russian/Ukrainian: Антонов Ан-24) ( NATO reporting name: Coke) is a 44-seat twin turboprop transport/passenger aircraft designed in 1957 in the Soviet Union by the Antonov Design Bureau and manufactured by Kyiv, Ir ...
on the north slope of
Polica.
See also
*
Zenon Klemensiewicz
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naumczyk, Antoni
1925 births
1969 deaths
People from Nashua, New Hampshire
20th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests
Former Roman Catholics
Polish Old Catholics
Christian Peace Conference members
Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Poland
Jagiellonian University alumni