Feliks Łukasz Lewiński, Brochwicz III coat of arms (24 October 1751 – 5 April 1825) was a Polish Roman Catholic bishop of the Diocese of Podlachia from 1818 until his death in 1825. He previously served as the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Kujawy-Pomorze from 1795 to 1818.

Biography

Feliks Lewiński was born in

Lewino Lewino is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Linia, within Wejherowo County, Pomeranian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately east of Linia, south-west of Wejherowo, and west of the regional capital Gdańsk. F ...

to Franciszek and Konstancja Lewiński. He was a descendent of the Brochwicz ''

szlachta The ''szlachta'' (; ; ) were the nobility, noble estate of the realm in the Kingdom of Poland, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Depending on the definition, they were either a warrior "caste" or a social ...

'' family. He was first educated at a Jesuit college in Stare Szkoty and later entered into the diocesan seminary at

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 ...

on 12 September 1775. He was ordained a priest on 4 January 1776 at

Włocławek Cathedral The Basilica Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption is a large Gothic architecture, Gothic building situated in the Polish city of Włocławek located near to the Vistula, Vistula River. Construction on the cathedral began in the 1340s, and it was ...

by Jan Dembowski. After his ordination, he studied at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

(then called Kraków Academy), where he obtained a doctorate in both laws. He was appointed

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the Diocese of Włocławek in 1783 and served as chancellor of the diocesan consistory from 1787 to 1797. In 1788 and 1789, he served as a deputy of the

Crown Tribunal The Crown Tribunal (, ) was the highest appellate court in the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland for most cases. Exceptions were if a noble landowner was threatened with loss of life and/or property, when he could appeal to the Sejm court (Parliament ...

. On 11 May 1790, Lewiński was appointed parish priest in Gdańsk. He was appointed civil military commissioner for Kujawy Voivodeship in 1791; he was also appointed to the

Order of Saint Stanislaus The Order of Saint Stanislaus (, ), also spelled Stanislas, was a Polish order of knighthood founded in 1765 by King Stanisław August Poniatowski of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It remained under the Congress Poland, Kingdom of Pola ...

in the same year. On 13 November 1793, he was appointed by Jan Rybiński as auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Kujawy-Pomorze; he was further appointed as titular bishop of Erythae on 12 September 1794. He was consecrated on 19 March 1795 in Niesułków by Jan Rybiński. His co-consecrators were Iwon Rygowski and

Mikołaj Dembowski Mikołaj Dembowski (died 1757) was a Catholic bishop in Kamianets-Podilskyi, who, under the influence of Jacob Frank, ordered the burning of all copies of the Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary so ...

. Between 27 February 1796 and 1818, Lewiński served as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop or archbishop of a diocese or an archdiocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vica ...

of the Diocese. After the death of Jan Rybiński, Lewiński was appointed to serve as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Kujawy-Pomorze in 1806. On 9 July 1809, he was appointed justice of the peace for the ''powiat'' of Radziejów in the

Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a First French Empire, French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnical ...

. He was nominated by Tsar Alexander I as bishop of the newly-formed Diocese of Podlachia on 11 August 1818, in accordance with article 42 of the

Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland The Constitution of the Kingdom of Poland () was granted to the 'Congress' Kingdom of Poland by King of Poland Alexander I of Russia in 1815, who was obliged to issue a constitution to the newly recreated Polish state under his domain as specifi ...

. He was officially appointed by

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII (; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823) was head of the Catholic Church from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. He ruled the Papal States from June 1800 to 17 May 1809 and again ...

through

papal bull A papal bull is a type of public decree, letters patent, or charter issued by the pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the leaden Seal (emblem), seal (''bulla (seal), bulla'') traditionally appended to authenticate it. History Papal ...

on 30 March 1819, assuming control of the diocese on 9 October 1819. As bishop of Podlachia, Lewiński divided the diocese into two

deaneries A deanery (or decanate) is an ecclesiastical entity in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anglican Communion, the Evangelical Church in Germany, and the Church of Norway. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of a ...

and appointed the first

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

of the Diocese, consisting of 12 people. On 11 May 1819, he was appointed to serve in the 1820 term of the

Sejm of Congress Poland The Sejm of Congress Poland (, ) was the parliament in the 19th century Kingdom of Poland, colloquially known as Congress Poland. It existed from 1815 to 1831. In the history of the Polish parliament, it succeeded the Sejm of the Duchy of Warsaw. ...

and awarded the

Order of Saint Anna The Imperial Order of Saint Anna (; also "Order of Saint Anne" or "Order of Saint Ann") was a Holstein ducal and then Russian imperial order of chivalry. It was established by Karl Friedrich, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp, on 14 February 1735, in hono ...

. As a senator, he sat on commissions for religious denominations and public education. He died on 5 April 1825 at Święte and was buried at the cathedral in

Janów Podlaski Janów Podlaski () is a town in Biała Podlaska County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland, close to the border with Belarus. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Janów Podlaski. It lies approximately north of Bi ...

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *{{Cite book, url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Jan%C3%B3w_Biskupi_czyli_Podlaski/aM_cWsxXJm4C?hl=en, title=Janów Biskupi czyli Podlaski, first=Józef, last=Pruszkowski, date=1897, pp=107–109, language=pl, access-date=7 December 2024 1751 births 1825 deaths Polish Roman Catholic bishops 18th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Pius VII