Stanisław Kędziora (6 December 1934, Seligów – 25 December 2017,

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 ...

) was a Polish

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

bishop and doctor of theology. He served as auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Warsaw The Archdiocese of Warsaw is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Poland encompassing the Polish capital. It was erected on October 16, 1798. It was elevated to an Archdiocese on June 30, 1813. A Metropolitan See, its suffragan di ...

from 1987 to 1992 and as auxiliary of the Diocese of Warszawa-Praga from 1992 to 2011.

Biography

Kędziora was born on 6 December 1934 in Seligów. From 1948 to 1952, he attended the secondary school in

Łowicz Łowicz is a town in central Poland with 27,896 inhabitants (2020). It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previously, it was in Skierniewice Voivodeship (1975–1998). Together with a nearby station of Bednary, Łowicz is a ma ...

. After finishing secondary school, he was an employee at the commune's office. From 1953 to 1958, he studied philosophy and theology at the Higher Metropolitan Seminary in Warsaw. 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 subdeacon on 29 June 1957 by the auxiliary bishop of Warsaw at the time, . Subsequently, he was ordained as a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...

on 11 August 1957 by Cardinal

Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on ...

. Kędziora was ordained to be 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 ...

on 3 August 1958 at St. John's Archcathedral, Warsaw, again by Wyszyński. From 1961 to 1964, he continued his studies in

dogmatic theology Dogmatic theology, also called dogmatics, is the part of theology dealing with the theoretical truths of faith concerning God and God's works, especially the official theology recognized by an organized Church body, such as the Roman Catholic Ch ...

at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Lublin, where he graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

. He then obtained a doctorate in theology from the same university in 1971 with his dissertation titled ''Science of

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...

on the mystical knowledge of God''. From 1958 to 1961, and again from 1964 to 1965, Kędziora worked as a

vicar A vicar (; Latin: ''vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pref ...

and a catechist for the Parish of St. Floriana, based in Brwinów. From 1982 to 1987, he was the

parson A parson is an ordained Christian person responsible for a small area, typically a parish. The term was formerly often used for some Anglican clergy and, more rarely, for ordained ministers in some other churches. It is no longer a formal term ...

of the Parish of All Saints, based in Warsaw, as well as the

dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean Titles * ...

of the deanery of Warszawa-Śródmieście. In 1985, he became a member of the priesthood council and the collegio consutorum. In 1976, he was given the privilege of Rochettum et Mantolettum. From 1965 to 1987, he was a lecturer in dogmatic theology at the Higher Metropolitan Seminary. From 1965 to 1971, he was the Apostolic prefect of the seminary, and from 1971 to 1982, he was the vice-rector. On 11 March 1987, Kędziora was appointed as an Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Warsaw, along with becoming the

titular bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Tucci. He was ordained on 25 March 1987 at Łowicz Cathedral. Cardinal

Józef Glemp Józef Glemp (18 December 192923 January 2013) was a Polish cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was Archbishop of Warsaw from 1981 to 2006, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. Biography Early life and ordination Józef Glemp was ...

consecrated him with the assistance of fellow auxiliary bishops and Kazimierz Romaniuk. For his episcopal motto, he adopted the Latin phrase "''Secundum Verbum Tuum''" (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

: ''According to Your Word''). In the Roman curia, he was the chairman of the Faculty of Catholic Science. He became a member of the priesthood council, a member of the collegio consutorum of the archdiocese, and a member of the economic council of the archdiocese. On 25 March 1992, Kędziora was transferred to become the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Warszawa-Praga. He was appointed vicar general of the diocese. In the Roman curia, he was the chairman of the Department of General Administration and the Faculty of Catholic Science. He became the deputy chairman of the priesthood council and a member of the collegio consutorum of the diocese. In 2008, as a result of the transfer of the diocesan bishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź to the

Archdiocese of Gdańsk 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 associat ...

, Kędziora became the

Diocesan administrator :''See: Catholic Church hierarchy#Equivalents of diocesan bishops in law'' A diocesan administrator is a provisional ordinary of a Roman Catholic particular church. Diocesan administrators in canon law The college of consultors elects an admini ...

of the diocese. In 1992, he was appointed as a

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pref ...

of the cathedral chapter of the diocese of Warszawa-Praga. On 5 January 2011,

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

accepted his resignation as auxiliary bishop. As part of the

Episcopal Conference of Poland The Polish Episcopal Conference or Polish Bishops' Conference ( pl, Konferencja Episkopatu Polski) is the central organ of the Catholic Church in Poland. It is composed of 2 cardinals, 28 archbishops and 118 bishops. Members ** President – abp ...

, Kędziora joined the Clergy Commission, the Commission for Academic Pastoral Affairs, the Commission for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, and the Committee on Catholic Education. Kędziora died on 25 December 2017 in Warsaw. He was buried at

Bródno Cemetery :''You may also be looking for the Bródno Jewish Cemetery.'' Bródno cemetery ( pl, Cmentarz Bródnowski) is an old cemetery in the Targówek district, in the eastern part of Warsaw, Poland. Occupying an area of , it is the largest cemetery in Wa ...

on 29 December 2017.

Awards

By the decision of the former President of the Republic of Poland,

Lech Kaczyński Lech Aleksander Kaczyński (; 18 June 194910 April 2010) was a Polish politician who served as the city mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 2005, and as President of Poland from 2005 until his death in 2010. Before his tenure as president, he pre ...

on 17 July 2008, Kędziora was awarded the Officer's Cross class of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on al ...

References

External links

Biographical note of Stanisław Kędziora on the website of the Warszawa-Praga diocese

Stanisław Kędziora at episkopat.pl
* 1934 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland People from Łowicz County Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland {{Poland-RC-bishop-stub