Bishop Jan Purwinski or Yan Purvinskyi ( uk, Ян Пурвінський; pl, Jan Purwiński; lv, Jānis Purvinskis; 19 November 1934 – 6 April 2021) was a Latvian-born Ukrainian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Diocesan Bishop of Kyiv–Zhytomyr since 16 January 1991 until 15 June 2011 (until 25 November 1998 as the Diocesan Bishop of Zhytomyr).

Early life

Bishop Purwinski was born into a peasant Roman Catholic family of Polish ethnicity in Latgale. After graduation from school he joined the Major Theological Seminary in Riga in 1956, and was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

on 13 April 1961, for his native Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga.

Career

From 1961 until 1977, Fr. Purwinski began to serve as an assistant priest in Daugavpils and after, as a parish priest and vice-dean in

Krāslava Krāslava (; ltg, Kruoslova, german: Kreslau, be, Краслаўка, pl, Krasław, russian: Краслава, Креславль) is a town and the administrative centre of Krāslava Municipality, in the Latgale region of Latvia. The town lies ...

, Baltinava and Indra. In 1977 he was transferred to Ukraine and began to learn the Ukrainian language and work as assistant priest in St. Sophia's Cathedral, Zhytomyr (from 1984 he was a dean of the Cathedral). Before moving to Ukraine Fr. Purwinski spoke Polish, Latgalian, Latvian and Russian. Alongside parish work, from 1981 until 1991 he served as a Bishopric Vicar for the

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

and

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

. On January 16, 1991, he was appointed by

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 ...

as the Diocesan Bishop of the recreated

Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhytomyr The Diocese of Zhytomyr was twice a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in part of Ukraine, namely from 1321 to 1789 and again from 1925 to 1998. History * Established in 1321 as Diocese of Zhytomyr / Žytomyr ...

. On March 4, 1991, he was consecrated as bishop by Archbishop

Francesco Colasuonno Francesco Colasuonno (2 January 1925 – 31 May 2003) was an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who served as a Vatican diplomat for more than two decades. He had the personal title of archbishop and at the end of his service became a cardin ...

and other prelates 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 ...

in St. Sophia's Cathedral in

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

Later life

He retired on June 15, 2011, and resided in

. He died on 6 April 2021, after being hospitalized a few days prior due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

complications.Помер перший єпископ відродженої Житомирської дієцезії Ян Пурвінський
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Purwinski, Jan 1934 births 2021 deaths Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Ukraine People from Ilūkste Municipality Ukrainian people of Latvian descent Ukrainian people of Polish descent 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ukraine 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ukraine Roman Catholic bishops of Kyiv