Ignacy Ludwik Jeż (31 July 1914, Radomyśl Wielki – 16 October 2007) was a Polish

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

prelate who served as the Bishop of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg. Jeż was born in the Polish town of Radomyśl Wielki on 31 July 1914. He was ordained a Catholic

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 deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on 20 June 1937. In 1942 he was sent first to Niemców labour camp and then interned in

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

as prisoner no. 37196, where he met fellow priest Joseph Kentenich. After the camp was liberated by the American forces in 1945, Jeż returned to priesthood, and from 1946 until 1960 he was the director of a Catholic Gymnasium in

Katowice Katowice (, ) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Katowice urban area. As of 2021, Katowice has an official population of 286,960, and a resident population estimate of around 315,000. K ...

. On 5 June 1960, under

Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...

, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and future Cardinal Bolesław Kominek appointed Jeż Titular Bishop of Alba Maritima. In 1967 he was elevated to

Auxiliary Bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...

of the Catholic Archdiocese of Wrocław. In 1972 he was appointed Bishop of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg, in northern Poland. He held this post until 1 February 1992, when, at the age of 77, his resignation request was accepted by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

. Jeż died on 16 October 2007 in

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, the day before the announcement that

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

had planned to make him a cardinal (in the consistory of 24 November 2007).

Work

Jeż was one of the pioneers of re-initiating post-war German-Polish relations. His widespread work led him to become an honorary

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

(''Ehrendomherr'') of the

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n Diocese of Würzburg, and in 2005 the

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

Horst Köhler Horst Köhler (; 22 February 1943 – 1 February 2025) was a German politician who served as President of Germany from 2004 to 2010. As the candidate of the two Christian Democratic sister parties, the Christian Democratic Union of Germany, CDU ...

awarded him the Grand Cross of Germany's federal order of merit, the

Bundesverdienstkreuz The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first President of the Federal Republic ...

. The following year the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet (assembly), Diet") is the lower house of the Germany, German Federalism in Germany, federal parliament. It is the only constitutional body of the federation directly elected by the German people. The Bundestag wa ...

awarded him the ''Preis für Zivilcourage'', "for his courageous behaviour as a young priest during the

Nazi occupation of Poland Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

". (in German) In 2007 he received the Grand Cross of the Polonia Restituta. Jeż was made an honorary citizen of several cities and municipalities: Radomyśl Wielki (since 2004),

Koszalin Koszalin (; ; , ) is a city in northwestern Poland, in Western Pomerania. It is located south of the Baltic Sea coast, and intersected by the river Dzierżęcinka. Koszalin is also a county-status city and capital of Koszalin County of West Pomera ...

(since 1994), Slupsk (since 2006), Połczyn Zdrój (since 2006),

(2007) and Kolobrzeg (since 2008). Jeż was a Knight of the Order of the Smile.

References

External links

Catholic Hierarchy.com: Bishop Ignacy Ludwik Jeż
1914 births 2007 deaths People from Mielec County Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Dachau concentration camp survivors 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland {{Poland-RC-bishop-stub