Jānis Matulis (21 February 1911 – 19 August 1985) was a Latvian prelate of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (, or LELB) is a Lutheranism, Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Protestant Reformation, Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the c ...

and Archbishop of Riga from 1969 to 1985.

Biography

Matulis was born on 21 February 1911 in

Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...

, in the

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in present-day

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, to a family of servants. In 1919, he attended school in Latvia. In 1925, he graduated from elementary school and passed the competition at the Riga Teachers' Institute and graduated in 1930. From 1932 to 1936 he worked in several schools in Riga, studying at the Department of Mathematics at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

in the Department of Natural Sciences. From 1936 to 1943 he studied theology on a scale cum laude, by the Faculty work "Kāds EVED-JAHVE problēmas atrisinājuma mēģinājums". On 9 June 1943 he was ordained in St John's church. In 1944 Matulis became the parish priest of

Kandava Kandava (; ; ) is a town in Tukums Municipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. It had a population of 3,656 people as of January 2020. History Livonian Crusade The territory of modern Kandava was inhabited by Finnic tribes until the 10th ce ...

church. In 1946 he was transferred to

Talsi Talsi (; , ) (population 11,371) is a town in the Courland region of Latvia. It is the administrative centre of Talsi Municipality. It is nicknamed the "green pearl of Courland". Etymology It is believed that the name is derived from an old Livo ...

where he remained for 22 years. In 1965, Archbishop

Gustavs Tūrs Gustavs Tūrs (24 May 1890 — 16 March 1973) was a Latvian prelate of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia and Archbishop of Riga from 1948 to 1968. Biography He was born on 24 May 1890 to Gustavs and Anna Tursa in Prauliena Parish "Silni ...

gave him the title of superintendent. On 22 February 1969, during an Extraordinary General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church after the death of Archbishop Elect Pēteris Kleperis, Matulis was elected as Archbishop of Riga and the

Sven Danell Sven Isak Danell (25 November 1903 - 18 January 1981) was a Swedish prelate who served as Bishop of Skara between 1955 and 1969. Biography Danell was born on 25 November 1903 in Uppsala, Sweden. His father, Hjalmar Danell, was Bishop of Skara bet ...

, the

Bishop of Skara The Diocese of Skara () is the oldest existing diocese in Sweden. It was originally a Latin bishopric of the Roman Catholic church, but since the Protestant Reformation has been a Lutheran diocese within the Church of Sweden, with its seat in S ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, consecrated him on 14 September 1969 and consequently restored the apostolic succession in the Latvian church. Mutalis received the staff of the first bishop of restored Archbishopric of Riga, Kārļa Irbes. On 3 June 1972 Mutalis lost his wife Margarita. He was awarded two theological doctorate "honora causa" (honorary doctorate) degrees – in 1973 from the Budapest Theological Academy and in 1980 –

University of Erlangen A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. Archbishop Mutalis is mostly remembered for his decision to ordain women to the priesthood in the Church of Latvia in 1975. This decision was reversed in 2016 by the current archbishop, Jānis Vanags. Archbishop Jānis Matulis died on 19 August 1985."Jānis Matulis"
''LELB''. Retrieved on 21 December 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Matulis, Janis 1911 births 1985 deaths Latvian Lutheran clergy Latvian Lutheran bishops Lutheran archbishops of Riga 20th-century Lutheran archbishops