Tomasz Bernard Peta (; born on 20 August 1951 in

Inowrocław Inowrocław (; , ) is a city in central Poland with a total population of 68,101 (as of December 2022). It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. It is one of the largest and most historically significant cities within the historic re ...

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 ...

) is the current Catholic Archbishop of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Mary in the city of

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

, and the President of the Bishops' Conference of

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

from May 19, 2003. He speaks the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Polish people, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken * Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin ...

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and Kazakh languages and is a citizen of

Priesthood

On 5 June 1976, Peta was ordained to the priesthood from the diocese of

Gniezno Gniezno (; ; ) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The city is the administrative seat of Gniezno County (''powiat'') ...

by Cardinal

Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish Roman Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Warsaw and Archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He previously served as Bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948. He was created a ...

. He began his work in Kazakhstan on 21 August 1990 as the parish of Mary - Queen of Peace in the village of Lakeside Tayynshinsky region of North Kazakhstan region. On 6 August 1999

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 ...

appointed him Apostolic Administrator in

. On 19 March 2001 by decision of 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 ...

, Peta was ordained bishop. On 17 May 2003 the Pope raised the Apostolic Administration in Astana to the level of archdiocese titled Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana. Then, on June 16, 2003, Tomasz Peta was appointed Archbishop, Metropolitan Archdiocese of St. Mary in

. On 19 May 2003, he was elected President of the Conference of Bishops of Kazakhstan. On 1 April 2008

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 ...

appointed the Metropolitan Tomasz Peta to the

Congregation for the Clergy The Dicastery for the Clergy, formerly named Congregation for the Clergy (; formerly the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy and Sacred Congregation of the Council), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia responsible for overseeing matters regard ...

, dealing with life and work of the priests.

Declaration of Truths

On June 10, 2019, Peta, along with cardinals

Raymond Leo Burke Raymond Leo Burke (born June 30, 1948) is an American Catholic prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as patron of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta from 2014 to 2023. He previously served as Archbishop of St. Louis from 2004 to 2008 and ...

and Jānis Pujats, in addition to Astana Auxiliary Bishop

Athanasius Schneider Athanasius Schneider, O.R.C. (born Anton Schneider on 7 April 1961) is a Catholic prelate, serving as the Auxiliary Bishop of Astana in Kazakhstan. He is a member of the Canons Regular of the Holy Cross of Coimbra. He is known for championi ...

and fellow Kazach archbishop Jan Paweł Lenga, published a 40-point "Declaration of Truths" claiming to reaffirm traditional Church teaching. The bishops wrote that such a declaration was necessary in a time of "almost universal doctrinal confusion and disorientation." Specific passages in the declaration implicitly relate to several writings by Pope Francis. The declaration states that "the religion born of faith in Jesus Christ" is the "only religion positively willed by God," seemingly alluding to the ''

Document on Human Fraternity The ''Document on Human Fraternity for World Peace and Living Together'', also known as the Abu Dhabi declaration or Abu Dhabi agreement, is a joint statement signed by Pope Francis of the Catholic Church and Sheikh Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of ...

'' signed by Pope Francis on February 4, which stated that the "diversity of religions" is "willed by God." Following recent changes to the Catechism to oppose

capital punishment Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence (law), sentence ordering that an offender b ...

, the declaration states that the Church "did not err" in teaching that civil authorities may "lawfully exercise capital punishment" when it is "truly necessary" and to preserve the "just order of societies."

Call for Peace

On January 10, 2022, during a Day of Mourning following weeks of civil unrest, Peta issued a call for peace. Lamenting the nearly 200 deaths caused by the violence, he instructed his priests to celebrate mass on January 13 and "to pray for victims and peace in our beloved Kazakhstan. The archbishop himself celebrated mass for that intention in the cathedral, and said "On Sunday, after the Angelus prayer,

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 ...

spoke about the incidents in Kazakhstan. He entrusted Kazakhstan to the protection of Our Lady Queen of Peace of Oziornoje. Following the Pope's appeal, we also want to ask for peace through the intercession of the patroness of our country, the Queen of Peace."

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20120106180635/http://www.catholic-kazakhstan.org/Astana/Pl/index.htm * http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bpetatom.html * http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/mari6.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Peta, Tomasz 1951 births Living people Kazakhstani Roman Catholic archbishops Kazakhstani people of Polish descent 21st-century Polish Roman Catholic priests People from Inowrocław