The Archdiocese of Białystok (; ) is a

Latin Church The Latin Church () is the largest autonomous () particular church within the Catholic Church, whose members constitute the vast majority of the 1.3 billion Catholics. The Latin Church is one of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical ...

ecclesiastical territory or

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

of the

Catholic Church 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 ...

Podlaskie Voivodeship Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a Voivodeships of Poland, voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to th ...

, Northeastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. It is a

metropolitan see Metropolitan may refer to: Areas and governance (secular and ecclesiastical) * Metropolitan archdiocese, the jurisdiction of a metropolitan archbishop ** Metropolitan bishop or archbishop, leader of an ecclesiastical "mother see" * Metropolitan ...

with two

suffragan diocese A suffragan diocese is one of the dioceses other than the metropolitan archdiocese that constitute an ecclesiastical province. It exists in some Christian denominations, in particular the Catholic Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandr ...

s. Its

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

archiepiscopal see is Bazylika Archikatedralna Wniebowzięcia NMP, a

minor basilica Basilicas are Catholic church buildings that have a designation, conferring special privileges, given by the Pope. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectura ...

in the

episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

. It also has a second

: Bazylika Ofiarowania Najświętszej Marii Panny, dedicated to the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Różanystok.

Ecclesiastical province

Its

Suffragan A suffragan bishop is a type of bishop in some Christian denominations. In the Catholic Church, a suffragan bishop leads a diocese within an ecclesiastical province other than the principal diocese, the metropolitan archdiocese; the diocese led ...

sees are : * Diocese of Drohiczyn * Diocese of Łomża

Statistics

, it pastorally served 352,330 Catholics (80.5% of 437,790 total; however only 43,2% are active members) on 5,550 km² in 116 parishes and 25 missions with 390 priests (360 diocesan, 30 religious), 190 lay religious (34 brothers, 156 sisters) and 60 seminarians.

History

* Established June 5, 1991 as Diocese of Białystok on Polish territory split off from the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Vilnius in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

* Enjoyed a Papal visit from the

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 ...

in June 1991. * Promoted on March 25, 1992, by the same as Archdiocese of Białystok

Episcopal ordinaries

:''Bishops of Białystok'' * Edward Kisiel (1991.06.05 – retired 1992.03.25), died 1993; previously

Titular Bishop 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 Limata (1976.05.03 – 1991.06.05) as

Apostolic Administrator An apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

of Białystok (1976.05.03 – 1991.06.05) ;''Metropolitan Archbishops of Białystok'' * Stanisław Szymecki (1993.05.15 – retired 2000.11.16), previously Bishop of

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

(Poland) (1981.03.27 – 1993.05.15) * Wojciech Ziemba (2000.11.16 – retired 2006.05.30); next Metropolitan Archbishop of Warmia (Poland) (2006.05.30 – 2016.10.15); previously Titular Bishop of Falerone (1982.06.19 – 1992.03.25) as

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 Warmia (Poland) (1982.06.19 – 1992.03.25), Bishop of

Ełk Ełk is a city in northeastern Poland with 61,677 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of Ełk County in the Warmian–Masurian Voivodeship. It lies on the shore of Ełk Lake, which was formed by a glacier, and is surrounded by extensiv ...

(Poland) (1992.03.25 – 2000.11.16) * Edward Ozorowski (2006.10.20 – retired 2017.04.12); previously Titular Bishop of Bitetto (1979.01.31 – 2006.10.20), first as Auxiliary Bishop of

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

(Lithuania) (1979.01.31 – 1991.06.05), then as Auxiliary Bishop of Białystok (1991.06.05 – succession 2006.10.20) * Tadeusz Wojda, ( S.A.C.) (2017.06.10 – 2021.03.02); next Metropolitan Archbishop of

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

(Poland) (since 2021.03.25); previously Undersecretary of the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (2012.07.24 – 2017.04.12).Honorable Archbishop Dr. Tadeusz Wojda
Archbishop of Białystok websiteVATICAN - Tadeusz Wojda, Under-secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, appointed Archbishop of Bialystok
Agenzia Fides, 19 April 2017 * Józef Guzdek (3 September 2021 – present); previously Titular Bishop of Treba (2004.09.15 – 2010.12.04) as

of the

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

, Bishop of Military Ordinariate of Poland (Poland) (2010.12.19 – 2021.07.14)

References

Sources and external links

GCatholic.org, with Google map & satellite photo - data for all sections

Diocese website
(in Polish) Roman Catholic dioceses in Poland Roman Catholic dioceses established in 1991 Christianity in Białystok

Archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...