Józef Feliks Gawlina, born in 1892 in Strzybnik ( Racibórz County) in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

- died 1964 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

was a Divisional general 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 ...

. He was an ordained priest, Doctor of Theology and from 1933,

Catholic bishop In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

in the

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 ...

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 ...

. After the

Second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, cardinal Hlond gave him the brief to provide pastoral care to the

Polish diaspora The Polish diaspora comprises Poles and people of Polish heritage or origin who live outside Poland. The Polish diaspora is also known in modern Polish as ''Polonia'', the name for Poland in Latin and many Romance languages. There are roughly 20, ...

. In the words of

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 ...

, Gawlina was a "bishop -

Nomad A nomad is a member of a community without fixed habitation who regularly moves to and from the same areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the po ...

". He was raised to the rank of Archbishop in 1957. Following his death, the

Secretary General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions), each lasting between 8 and ...

described him as a "real pastor".

References

Bibliography

* A. K. Kunert, ed. (2002)."Józef Feliks Gawlina Biskup Polowy Polskich Sił Zbrojnych" in ''Emigracyjna Rzeczpospolita 1939-1990'', vol. III. Warsaw. * Władysław Bochnak, ''W służbie Bogu i ludziom. Sylwetki Ślązaków'', Marki-Struga 1989, p. 200-211. * T. Kryska Karski i S. Żurakowski, ''Generałowie Polski Niepodległej'' publ. Editions Spotkania Warszawa 1991 * Henryk P. Kosk, ''Generalicja polska'', publ. Oficyna wydawnicza "Ajaks", Pruszków: 1998. * Henryka Wolna-Van Das, ''Biskup polowy Józef Gawlina – w 100 lecie urodzin'', Polska Zbrojna, November 1992

External links

Nota biograficzna Józefa Gawliny na stronie Ordynariatu Polowego Wojska Polskiego
ccess: 2011-12-25* 1892 births 1964 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Poland Participants in the Second Vatican Council {{Poland-mil-bio-stub