Andrzej Wronka (21 October 1897 – 28 August 1974) was a Polish Roman Catholic bishop. He served as auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Gniezno The Archdiocese of Gniezno (, ) is the oldest Latin Catholic archdiocese in Poland, located in the city of Gniezno.

from 1957 to 1967 and then as auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Wrocław 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 ...

from 1967 until he died in 1974.

Biography

Wronka was born in Biskupice Zabaryczne to Józef and Maria Wronka (). He received primary education at Biskupice Zabaryczne from 1905 to 1909, receiving

First Communion First Communion is a ceremony in some Christian traditions during which a person of the church first receives the Eucharist. It is most common in many parts of the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Church and Anglican Communion (ot ...

on 5 July 1908 and receiving the sacrament of

confirmation In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant (religion), covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. The ceremony typically involves laying on o ...

on 8 September 1908 from Edward Litkowski. He then attended a gymnasium located at

Ostrów Wielkopolski Ostrów Wielkopolski () (often abbreviated ''Ostrów Wlkp.'', formerly called simply ''Ostrów'', , Latin: ''Ostrovia'') is a city in west-central Poland with 70,982 inhabitants (2021), situated in the Greater Poland Voivodeship; the seat of Ostr ...

from 1909 until June 1917. He was enlisted into the Prussian Army in July 1917, though he was released after a few months due to poor health. He obtained his ''

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' on 14 June 1918 from a gymnasium located in

Kępno Kępno is a town in south-central Poland. Kępno is located in the historical Wieluń Land. It lies on the outskirts of the Greater Poland Voivodeship, bordering the historical region of Silesia and the Łódź Voivodeship. As of December 31, 200 ...

. On 1 July 1919, Wronka began attending the diocesan seminary in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, though he studied at the diocesan seminary in

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'') ...

. He sent to work on behalf of an

Upper Silesian plebiscite The Upper Silesia plebiscite was a plebiscite mandated by the Versailles Treaty and carried out on 20 March 1921 to determine ownership of the province of Upper Silesia between Weimar Germany and the Second Polish Republic. The region was ethni ...

campaign in 1920, where he worked as an educational instructor at

Strzelce Opolskie Strzelce Opolskie () is a town in southern Poland with 17,900 inhabitants (2019), situated in the Opole Voivodeship. It is the capital of Strzelce County. Etymology The name of the town is of Polish origin and comes from the old Polish word ''s ...

. He was ordained a priest at Gniezno on 26 May 1923 by Edmund Dalbor. After his ordination, he served as vicar at

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

Gniewkowo Gniewkowo (Polish pronunciation: ) is a town in Inowrocław County, Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship, in north-central Poland with a population of 7,301 inhabitants (2005). It is located within the historic region of Kuyavia. Location Gniewkowo ...

and

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 ...

. Kubina served as procurator of the archdiocesan seminary in Poznań – as well as a lecturer in liturgy, Greek and Hebrew – between December 1923 and June 1928. He began

oriental studies Oriental studies is the academic field that studies Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology. In recent years, the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Middle Eastern studie ...

Adam Mickiewicz University Adam is the name given in Genesis 1–5 to the first human. Adam is the first human-being aware of God, and features as such in various belief systems (including Judaism, Christianity, Gnosticism and Islam). According to Christianity, Adam si ...

in January 1924; he obtained a doctorate in philosophy on 4 June 1927 with his thesis ''Jahwe jako nomen ineffable''. In 1928, Wronka became a lecturer and professor at the diocesan seminary in

; he was appointed vicerector of the seminary in 1933. While working at the seminary, he taught scripture, liturgy,

paterology Paterology, or patriology, in Christian theology, refers to the study of God the Father. Both terms are derived from two Greek words: πατήρ (''patḗr'', father) and λογος (''logos'', teaching). As a distinctive theological discipline, ...

and biblical languages. Kubina served as a prosynodal judge from 1933 to 1938, and on 1 November 1938 he was appointed rector of the ''Pontificium Collegium Polonorum'' in Rome. He served as parish priest in Gniezno between November 1939 and October 1941. Kubina was forced by the Arbeitsamt to work in the

Reichsbank The ''Reichsbank'' (; ) was the central bank of the German Empire from 1876 until the end of Nazi Germany in 1945. Background The monetary institutions in Germany had been unsuited for its economic development for several decades before unifica ...

between 1941 and 1945; after the Germans fled Gniezno, he managed Holy Trinity Parish in Gniezno. On 15 August 1945, Wronka was appointed apostolic administrator of the dioceses of

Chełmno Chełmno (; older ; , formerly also ) is a town in northern Poland near the Vistula river with 18,915 inhabitants as of December 2021. It is the seat of the Chełmno County in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship. Due to its regional importance ...

and

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 ...

August Hlond August Hlond, SDB (5 July 1881 – 22 October 1948) was a Polish Salesian prelate who served as Archbishop of Poznań and Gniezno and as Primate of Poland. He was later appointed Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw and was made a cardinal of ...

, and was given the same rights as a diocesan bishop. He served as apostolic administrator until 26 January 1951, when his apostolic administration was liquidated by government decree and he was moved to Poznań. He was appointed protonotary apostolic ''ad instar participantium'' on 2 August 1952 and rector of the on 1 February 1956. On 30 May 1957, Wronka was appointed auxiliary bishop of Gniezno and titular bishop of Vatarba by

Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

, being assigned to

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

. He was consecrated on 29 December 1957 at the

Jasna Góra Monastery The Jasna Góra Monastery ( , ''Luminous or Light Mountain'', ) in Częstochowa, Poland, is a shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary and one of the country's places of pilgrimage. The image of the Black Madonna of Częstochowa, also known as Ou ...

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 ...

, assisted by Antoni Baraniak and Bolesław Kominek. He was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of Breslau on 17 January 1958, and attended the first and fourth sessions of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

. On 16 December 1967, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Breslau. Kubina died on 28 August 1974 in Wrocław and was buried at .

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *{{Cite book, url=https://digital.fides.org.pl/Content/1269/PDF/Szymanowski.pdf, title=Sylwetka biskupa Andrzeja Wronki (1897 - 1974) w świetle dokumentów aparatu bezpieczeństwa PRL, first=Adam, last=Szymanowski, date=2012, language=pl, access-date=25 October 2024 1897 births 1974 deaths