Jānis Matulis (21 February 1911 – 19 August 1985) was a Latvian prelate of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Evaņģēliski luteriskā baznīca, or LELB) is a Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes pers ...

and Archbishop of Riga from 1969 to 1985.

Biography

Matulis was born on 21 February 1911 in Kaluga, in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

in present-day

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, to a family of servants. In 1919, he attended school in Latvia. In 1925, he graduated from elementary school and passed the competition at the Riga Teachers' Institute and graduated in 1930. From 1932 to 1936 he worked in several schools in Riga, studying at the Department of Mathematics at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

in the Department of Natural Sciences. From 1936 to 1943 he studied theology on a scale cum laude, by the Faculty work "Kāds EVED-JAHVE problēmas atrisinājuma mēģinājums". On 9 June 1943 he was ordained in St John's church. In 1944 Matulis became the parish priest of

Kandava Kandava (; german: Kandau; liv, Kāndav) is a town in Tukums Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. It had a population of 3,656 people as of January 2020. History Livonian Crusade Territory of the modern Kandava was inhabited by Finn ...

church. In 1946 he was transferred to

Talsi Talsi (; liv, Tālsa, german: Talsen) (population 11,371) is a town in Latvia. It is the administrative centre of Talsi Municipality. It is nicknamed the "green pearl of Courland". Etymology It is believed that the name is derived from an old L ...

where he remained for 22 years. In 1965, Archbishop

Gustavs Tūrs Gustavs Tūrs (24 May 1890 — 16 March 1973) was a Latvian prelate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia and Archbishop of Riga from 1948 to 1968. Biography He was born on 24 May 1890 to Gustavs and Anna Tursa in Prauliena Parish "Silniek ...

gave him the title of superintendent. On 22 February 1969, during an Extraordinary General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church after the death of Archbishop Elect Pēteris Kleperis, Matulis was elected as Archbishop of Riga and the

Sven Danell Sven Isak Danell (25 November 1903 - 18 January 1981) was a Swedish prelate who served as Bishop of Skara between 1955 and 1969. Biography Danell was born on 25 November 1903 in Uppsala, Sweden. His father, Hjalmar Danell, was Bishop of Skara bet ...

, the

Bishop of Skara The Diocese of Skara ( sv, Skara stift) is the oldest existing diocese in Sweden, originally a Latin bishopric of the Roman Catholic church, and since Protestant reformation a Lutheran diocese of the Church of Sweden (the former state church of S ...

in Sweden, consecrated him on 14 September 1969 and consequently restored the apostolic succession in the Latvian church. Mutalis received the staff of the first bishop of restored Archbishopric of Riga, Kārļa Irbes. On 3 June 1972 Mutalis lost his wife Margarita. He was awarded two theological doctorate "honora causa" (honorary doctorate) degrees – in 1973 from the Budapest Theological Academy and in 1980 –

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

. Archbishop Mutalis is mostly remembered for his decision to ordain women to the priesthood in the Church of Latvia in 1975. This decision was reversed in 2016 by the current archbishop, Jānis Vanags. Archbishop Jānis Matulis died on 19 August 1985."Jānis Matulis"
''LELB''. Retrieved on 21 December 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matulis, Janis 1911 births 1985 deaths Latvian Lutheran clergy Latvian Lutheran bishops Lutheran archbishops of Riga 20th-century Lutheran archbishops