Józef Kowalczyk (; born 28 August 1938) is a Polish

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

prelate,

canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...

yer and diplomat who, from 1989 to 2010, served as the first

apostolic nuncio to Poland The Apostolic Nuncio to Poland is one of the oldest nuncios, appointed by the Pope as apostolic representative to the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. Three nuncios to Poland went on to be elected pope. Three were cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal ...

since

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He later served as

Tarnów Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...

. In 1956 he began to study at the Seminary of

Olsztyn Olsztyn ( , ) is a city on the Łyna River in northern Poland. It is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, and is a city with powiat rights, city with county rights. The population of the city was estimated at 169,793 residents Olsz ...

, a successor institution of the Collegium Hosianum. He was ordained priest by auxiliary bishop Józef Drzazga on 14 January 1962 and nominated

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 p ...

at the parish of the

Holy Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

Kwidzyn Kwidzyn (; ; Latin: ''Quedin''; Old Prussian: ''Kwēdina'') is a town in northern Poland on the Liwa River. With a population of 36,731, it is the capital of Kwidzyn County in the Pomeranian Voivodeship. Geography Kwidzyn is located on the L ...

shortly thereafter. In October 1963, he began his training in

at the

Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin (, , abbreviation KUL) is a university established in 1918. History Father Idzi Benedykt Radziszewski founded the university in 1918. Lenin allowed the priest to take the library and equipment of ...

and moved to

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

to continue his studies at the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in February 1965. He earned his doctorate in canon law in 1968 and a diploma of advocate of the

Roman Rota The Roman Rota, formally the Apostolic Tribunal of the Roman Rota (), and anciently the Apostolic Court of Audience, is the highest appellate tribunal of the Catholic Church, with respect to both Latin Church members and the Eastern Catholic m ...

in 1971. He also received a diploma of archivist of the

Vatican Secret Archives The Vatican Apostolic Archive (; ), formerly known as the Vatican Secret Archive (; ), is the central repository in the Vatican City of all acts promulgated by the Holy See. The Pope, as the sovereign of Vatican City, owns the material held ...

. On 19 December 1969, Kowalczyk began to work at the

Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments The Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments () is the dicastery (from , from δικαστής, 'judge, juror') of the Roman Curia that handles most affairs relating to liturgical practices of the Latin Church as distin ...

. In the years 1976–1978, he accompanied the

nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

for special assignments, Archbishop Luigi Poggi, on trips to the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

. On 18 October 1978, two days after Cardinal Karol Wojtyła became

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 ...

, Kowalczyk was asked to set up a Polish section of the

Vatican Secretariat of State The Secretariat of State (Latin: ''Secretaria Status''; Italian: ''Segreteria di Stato'') is the oldest dicastery in the Roman Curia, the central papal governing bureaucracy of the Catholic Church. It is headed by the Cardinal Secretary of Stat ...

. He went on as the head of this section until 1989. In this capacity, he often accompanied the pope in his foreign visits. Kowalczyk was additionally charged with the task of overseeing the translation and publication of works written by Wojtyła before his accession to papacy. According to the daily ''

Rzeczpospolita () is a traditional Polish term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "rzeczpospolita", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage" "thing, matter" and "common" is analogous to the Latin ''rēs pūblica' ...

'', documents held by the

Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state research institute in charge of education and archives which also includes two public prosecutio ...

indicate that, from 1982 until 1990, Kowalczyk was registered by the Polish Communist secret police (''

Służba Bezpieczeństwa The Security Service (; ), in full Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and commonly known as SB, was a secret police force established in the Polish People's Republic in 1956 as a successor to the Ministry of Public Security (P ...

'') as a source of information under codename "Cappino". It is uncertain whether Kowalczyk knew to have been registered or that he agreed to it.

Nuncio to Poland

Following Solidarity's victory in the parliamentary election in June 1989, Poland resumed diplomatic relations with the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

on 17 July 1989. On 26 August 1989, Pope John Paul II nominated Kowalczyk as the first post-war

. The pope consecrated him as

titular archbishop 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 Heraclea in

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

on 20 October 1989. Kowalczyk chose the words ''Fiat Voluntas Tua'' ("Thy will be done", quote from the '' Pater Noster'') as his episcopal motto; his episcopal coat of arms is charged with a cross, a pastoral staff, a star symbolizing the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, and a plough symbolizing Kowalczyk's rural origin. The nuncio arrived in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

on 23 November 1989 and presented his

letter of credence A letter of credence (, ) is a formal Diplomatic correspondence, diplomatic letter that designates a diplomat as ambassador to another sovereign state. Commonly known as diplomatic credentials, the letter is addressed from one head of state to an ...

to President

Wojciech Jaruzelski Wojciech Witold Jaruzelski ( ; ; 6 July 1923 – 25 May 2014) was a Polish military general, politician and ''de facto'' leader of the Polish People's Republic from 1981 until 1989. He was the First Secretary of the Polish United Workers' Party ...

on 6 December 1989. Jozef Kowalczyk

As nuncio, Kowalczyk presided over the reëstablishment of the military ordinariate of Poland in 1991. Together with the Conference of Polish Bishops, he worked on a thorough reorganization of the administrative structure of the Catholic Church in Poland. This task resulted in the

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

'' Totus Tuus Poloniae populus'' of 1992, which erected 13 new dioceses, elevated eight dioceses to archdioceses, and adjusted ecclesiastical borders to match the post-war borders of Poland. The nuncio also negotiated with Polish authorities the text of the concordat which was signed on 28 July 1993 and ratified by Poland in 1998. The concordat, in which the Republic of Poland agreed, among other things, to recognize the

legal person In law, a legal person is any person or legal entity that can do the things a human person is usually able to do in law – such as enter into contracts, lawsuit, sue and be sued, ownership, own property, and so on. The reason for the term "''le ...

ality of the Catholic Church and legal validity of church marriages, became a model for other

concordat A concordat () is a convention between the Holy See and a sovereign state that defines the relationship between the Catholic Church and the state in matters that concern both,René Metz, ''What is Canon Law?'' (New York: Hawthorn Books, 1960 Benedict XVI's papal visits to Poland in 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2006. By tradition, Kowalczyk – in his capacity as the apostolic nuncio – acted as dean of the diplomatic corps in Poland. Although formally he was not part of the Conference of Polish Bishops, he played an important advisory role. His job was also to propose candidates for episcopal appointments to the Holy See; during his 21-year-long nunciature – the longest ever in a single country – Kowalczyk had a considerable influence on the composition of the Catholic episcopate in Poland.

Primate of Poland

On 8 May 2010, Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of retiring Archbishop Henryk Muszyński and nominated Kowalczyk as the new

archbishop of Gniezno This is a list of archbishops of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno, Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primate (bishop), primates of Poland since 1418.primate of Poland This is a list of archbishops of the Archdiocese of Gniezno, who are simultaneously primates of Poland since 1418.Gniezno Cathedral The Royal Gniezno Cathedral (The Primatial Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Shrine of St. Adalbert, ) is a Brick Gothic cathedral located in the historic city of Gniezno that served as the coronation place for ...

on 26 June 2010. The primatial title, which is traditionally held by the head of the oldest archbishopric in Poland, no longer carries significant power in national or church structures, but remains a prestigious honorific post. On 17 May 2014, Kowalczyk retired as

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

accepted his resignation from the archiepiscopal see of Gniezno and appointed Archbishop Wojciech Polak as his successor. , -

References

External links

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Virtual tour Gniezno Cathedral

List of Primates of Poland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kowalczyk, Jozef 1938 births 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Poland Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Apostolic nuncios to Poland Archbishops of Gniezno Living people People from Tarnów County Grand Crosses with Star and Sash of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Polish Roman Catholic titular archbishops Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II