The Military Ordinariate of Poland ( pl, Ordynariat Polowy Wojska Polskiego) is a

military ordinariate A military ordinariate is an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Catholic Church, of the Latin or an Eastern church, responsible for the pastoral care of Catholics serving in the armed forces of a nation. Until 1986, they were called "military v ...

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 ...

. Immediately subject to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

, it provides

pastoral care Pastoral care is an ancient model of emotional, social and spiritual support that can be found in all cultures and traditions. The term is considered inclusive of distinctly non-religious forms of support, as well as support for people from rel ...

to Roman Catholics serving in the

Polish Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Republic of Poland ( pl, Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej, abbreviated ''SZ RP''; popularly called ''Wojsko Polskie'' in Poland, abbreviated ''WP''—roughly, the "Polish Military") are the national armed forces of ...

and their families.

History

It was first established as a military vicariate on 5 February 1919, but was suspended in 1947. Following the fall of the communist rule in 1989, a military ordinariate was established and the first military ordinary was appointed on 21 January 1991. The

Episcopal seat A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

is located at the

Field Cathedral of the Polish Army The Field Cathedral of the Polish Army ( pl, Katedra Polowa Wojska Polskiego, also known as the Church of Our Lady Queen of the Polish Crown) is the main garrison church of Warsaw and the representative cathedral of the entire Polish Army. In the ...

(''Katedra Polowa Wojska Polskiego'') 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 officiall ...

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 ...

Office holders

Military Vicariate

* Stanisław Gall (appointed 5 February 1919 – resigned December 1931) * Józef Gawlina (appointed 15 February 1933 – resigned 1947)

Military Ordinariate

Sławoj Leszek Głódź Sławoj Leszek Głódź (born 13 August 1945) is a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Gdańsk from 2008 to 2020. He has been a bishop since 1991 and before that spent a decade working in the Roman Curia. Early ...

(appointed 21 January 1991 – translated to the Diocese of Warszawa-Praga 26 August 2004) **given the personal title of archbishop on 17 July 2002 * Tadeusz Płoski (appointed 16 October 2004 – killed in a

plane crash An aviation accident is defined by the Convention on International Civil Aviation Annex 13 as an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft, which takes place from the time any person boards the aircraft with the ''intention of fl ...

10 April 2010) * Józef Guzdek (appointed 6 December 2010 – 16 July 2021); formerly an Auxiliary Bishop of the

Archdiocese of Krakow In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

* Wiesław Lechowicz (15 January 2022 – present)

References

External links

Military Ordinariate of Poland
(Catholic-Hierarchy)

(GCatholic.org)
Official site

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