Józef Sebastian Pelczar (17 January 1842 – 28 March 1924) was a Polish Roman Catholic

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

and was also the co-founder of the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus which he had established in 1894 with Ludwika Szczęsna. He also served in several episcopal posts and served as the

Bishop of Przemyśl A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

- on his fourth visit 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 populous ...

- beatified Pelczar in 1991 and presided over the canonization in 2003.

Life

Józef Sebastian Pelczar was born in

in 1842 to Adalbert and Marianna Mięsowicz. As a child he felt a strong calling to serve

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

and so once wrote in his journal: "Earthly ideals are fading away. I see the ideal of life in sacrifice, and the ideal of sacrifice in priesthood". Pelczar studied in Rzeszow and then commenced his studies for the priesthood in Przemyśl in 1860. At the age of 16 he became a member of the

Saint Vincent de Paul Society The Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the sanctification of its members by personal service of the poor. Innumerable Catholic parishes have ...

and of the organization known as Popular Education. After the completion of his studies, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as a priest on 17 July 1864. He was assigned to be a parish priest at Sambor. He was later transferred to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

in 1866 for further studies and he studied at the Institute of Saint Apollinaris and at the

Collegium Romanum The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school (pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

. He gained a

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 ''l ...

in both theological studies and in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

. He also served as a professor from 1869 to 1877 and served in that role in both Przemyśl and Krakow from 1882 to 1883. Pelczar established several libraries and he delivered free lectures and published countless books. He would write on historical topics as well as on canon law. He started a school for those who were servants. He founded the Fraternity of Our Lady, Queen of the Polish Crown in 1891 with the objective of caring for the poor and for orphans as well as for the sick and those who had no job. While in Krakow in 1893 he met Ludwika Szczęsna and the two established the Sister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus on 15 April 1894 with the aim of working with women.

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

appointed Pelczar as the

on 17 December 1900 and he was installed in 1901. He made frequent visits to all parishes within the diocese and supported all religious orders. He also conducted three episcopal meetings to discuss diocesan issues and worked to reform seminaries to promote better education and greater access to resources for them. In addition to this, he also built and restored churches, established nurseries, kitchens, homeless shelters and schools. He ensured that the implementation of the social doctrine described in the writings of Leo XIII — such as the

papal encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fro ...

Rerum Novarum ''Rerum novarum'' (from its incipit, with the direct translation of the Latin meaning "of revolutionary change"), or ''Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor'', is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on 15 May 1891. It is an open letter, pass ...

- was a top priority. Pelczar also served as one of the co-consecrators at the consecration of Achille Ratti — the future

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 ...

on 28 October 1919. Pelczar died on 28 March 1924 with a strong reputation for holiness and was hailed as a shepherd who paid close attention to pastoral issues. It is said that he died in the

odour of sanctity The odour of sanctity (also spelled odor), according to the Catholic Church, is commonly understood to mean a specific scent (often compared to flowers) that emanates from the bodies of saints, especially from the wounds of stigmata. These saints a ...

Canonization

Bazylika archikatedralna Przemysl Pelczar

The sainthood process was introduced on a formal level on 25 January 1983 despite the fact that the local process had opened and the

positio In the Catholic Church, a ''positio'' (''Positio super Virtutibus'') is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a person is declared Venerable, the second of the four steps on the path to canonization as a saint. Des ...

had been submitted for evaluation. The local process had spanned from 26 March 1954 until 1957 which granted Pelczar16 the posthumous title of

Servant of God "Servant of God" is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression "servant of God" appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in th ...

. The positio — documentation and a biography — was submitted to the

Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, pa ...

in 1982.

approved that Pelczar had lived a life of

heroic virtue Heroic virtue is a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs and used by the Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman abilities and great goodness, and "it ...

and declared him to be

Venerable The Venerable (''venerabilis'' in Latin) is a style, a title, or an epithet which is used in some Western Christian churches, or it is a translation of similar terms for clerics in Eastern Orthodoxy and monastics in Buddhism. Christianity Cathol ...

on 18 February 1989. The miracle that was required for Pelczar's

beatification Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...

was investigated and was ratified on 23 June 1989. John Paul II approved the miracle on 10 July 1990 and beatified him on his visit to Poland on 2 June 1991. The pope also approved the second miracle required for canonization and presided over the canonization on 18 May 2003.

References

External links

Hagiography CircleSaints SQPNSister Servants of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelczar, Jozef Sebastian 1842 births 1924 deaths Founders of Catholic religious communities 19th-century venerated Christians 20th-century venerated Christians Polish educators Polish Roman Catholic saints Beatifications by Pope John Paul II Canonizations by Pope John Paul II Bishops of Przemyśl People from Podkarpackie Voivodeship Venerated Catholics by Pope John Paul II