Zbigniew Kiernikowski (born 2 July 1946 in

Szamarzewo Szamarzewo (German 1939-1945 ''Ellerode'') is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Kołaczkowo, within Września County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Września and east o ...

) is a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

prelate of the

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 ...

who was bishop of Legnica from 2014 to 2021 and of Siedlice from 2002 to 2014.

Biography

Kiernikowski was ordained to the priesthood on 6 June 1971. He completed a dissertation in Theology in 1983 at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' titled ''La crescita della comunità, Corpo di Cristo : l'identità e il dinamismo della vita cristiana rispecchiate nella dinamica del testo della Lettera ai Colossesi''. Kiernikowski was named bishop of

Siedlce Siedlce [] ( yi, שעדליץ ) is a city in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). Situated in the Masovian Voivodeship (since 1999), previously the city was the capital of a separate Siedlce Voivodeship (1975–1998). The city is situated ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

, on 28 March 2002. On 16 April 2014, he was named bishop of

Legnica Legnica (Polish: ; german: Liegnitz, szl, Lignica, cz, Lehnice, la, Lignitium) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River (left tributary of the Oder) and the Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 19 ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

accepted his resignation on 28 June 2021, following his investigation by the Vatican into his negligence in a sexual abuse case.

Honors and awards

National awards

* : **

Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta , image=Polonia Restituta - Commander's Cross pre-1939 w rib.jpg , image_size=200px , caption=Commander's Cross of Polonia Restituta , presenter = the President of Poland , country = , type=Five classes , eligibility=All , awar ...

(2009)

References

1946 births Living people People from Września County Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland {{Poland-RC-bishop-stub