Ignacy Tokarczuk (1 February 1918 – 29 December 2012) was a Polish

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Roman 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 ...

Biography

Tokarczuk was born in Łubianki Wyższe near

Tarnopol Ternopil, known until 1944 mostly as Tarnopol, is a city in western Ukraine, located on the banks of the Seret (river), Seret River. Ternopil is one of the major cities of Western Ukraine and the historical regions of Galicia (Central Europe ...

. He was ordained a priest by Bishop Eugeniusz Baziak in

Lvov Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

on 21 June 1942. On 2 December 1965 he was appointed a Bishop of the

Diocese of Przemyśl 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 ...

, and was consecrated 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 ...

on 6 February 1966. On 2 June 1991 Tokarczuk was bestowed a personal title of

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

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 ...

. On 25 March 1992 he became a

metropolitan 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 ar ...

Archbishop of Przemyśl. As the Bishop of Przemysl, he was known for building a great number of churches in his diocese despite the lack of having permission to build from the communist authorities. It is said that he has erected nearly 430 churches during his tenure as a bishop. He was also a great supporter of the

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

movement. For his uncompromising stance in the defense of the institution of the Catholic Church in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

, he was repeatedly harassed by the Polish Security Service. Tokarczuk retired from the Archdiocese of Przemyśl on 17 April 1993 and was succeeded by Archbishop Józef Michalik. Tokarczuk was also a recipient of the Order of White Eagle, and from 2007 to 2009, he was a member of the Grand Chapter of the Order.

References

External links

Catholic-Hierarchy

Przemyśl Diocese
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tokarczuk, Ignacy 1918 births 2012 deaths Bishops of Przemyśl 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin alumni Academic staff of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland)

Biography

See also

References

External links