Władysław Blin (, , born May 31, 1954) was Bishop of the diocese of

Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...

, the Catholic diocese centered in the city of Vitebsk,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Life in Poland

He was born May 31, 1954, in

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 ...

, in

Świdwin Świdwin (; ) is a town in West Pomeranian Voivodeship of northwestern Poland. It is the capital of Świdwin County, and the administrative seat - though not part - of the Gmina Świdwin. Świdwin is situated in the historic Pomerania region on t ...

(Western Pomerania) in a

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 ...

family, which immigrated after

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 ...

to post-war Poland from the town of of the pre-war Wilno Voivodeship of

Eastern Poland Eastern Poland () is a macroregion in Poland comprising the Lublin Voivodeship, Lublin, Podkarpackie Voivodeship, Subcarpathian, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Podlaskie, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Świętokrzyskie, and Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Wa ...

, annexed after the war by the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

(now , Hłybokaje District, Vitebsk Region). Later the family moved to the village of

Ślesin Ślesin ( or ''Shleshin'') is a town in Konin County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in central Poland, with 3,200 inhabitants (2010). History The oldest known mention of Ślesin comes from a document of Polish monarch Konrad I of Masovia from 123 ...

, where Władysław Blin spent his childhood. Władysław Blin chosen path in life early Catholic priest. He was in Poland spiritual Catholic education, he graduated from the Higher Theological Seminary in

Włocławek Włocławek (; or ''Alt Lesle'', Yiddish: וולאָצלאַוועק, romanized: ''Vlatzlavek'') is a city in the Kuyavian–Pomeranian Voivodeship in central Poland along the Vistula River, bordered by the Gostynin-Włocławek Landscape Park ...

, in the same May 25, 1980, by

Jan Zaręba Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Numbe ...

, bishop of Włocławek, was ordained a priest. Władyslaw Blin continued his education 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 the Academy of Catholic Theology 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 ...

(now the University of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski in Warsaw).

Living in Belarus

In 1989, when the Soviet Union lifted restrictions on religious life, he moved to the historic homeland of his family to Belarus, where he was appointed rector of the Catholic parish in

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

. He founded the first in the entire region of Mogilev Catholic parish, the Church had secured the return of the church of the Ascension of the Virgin Mary and St. Stanislaus, where he became abbot. In 1998, he received a doctorate in theological science. His doctoral work was devoted to St. Joseph. On October 13, 1999, he was appointed the first bishop of the newly formed diocese of Vitiebsk, and was consecrated on November 20, 1999. The principal consecrator was cardinal

Kazimierz Swiatek Kazimierz (; ; ) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the Crown of the Polish Kingdom, located south ...

. As his episcopal motto, Blin chose the phrase ''Soli Deo''. On June 14, 2006, he was elected deputy chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Belarus. He is Chairman of the Ecumenical Commission and the Commission's general pastoral bishops in Belarus. The Pope accepted his resignation from the diocese on February 25, 2013.

External links

* http://www.catholic.by/port/conference/blin.htm * http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bblin.html * http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/diocese/vite0.htm#3563 * http://www.kresy.pl/publicystyka?zobacz/bp-wladyslaw-blin-ordynariusz-diecezji-witebskiej * http://www.diecezja.kalisz.pl/opiekun/215/A%20mieszka%C5%82em%20...%20na%20dworcu.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Blin, Wladyslaw 1954 births Living people People from Świdwin John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin alumni 20th-century Polish Roman Catholic priests 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Belarus