Jan Pietraszko
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Jan Pietraszko (7 August 1911 - 2 March 1988) was 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 ...
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
who served as one of the
auxiliaries Auxiliaries are combat support, support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular army, regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties ...
for the Kraków archdiocese and Titular Bishop of Turrisblanda from 1962 until his death. Pietraszko was a noted
spiritual director Spiritual direction is the practice of being with people as they attempt to deepen their relationship with the divinity, divine, or to learn and grow in their personal spirituality. The person seeking direction shares stories of their encounters ...
and chaplain as well as a popular confessor but was best known for his sermons and for his
homiletic In religious studies, homiletics ( ''homilētikós'', from ''homilos'', "assembled crowd, throng") is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific art of public preaching. One who practices or studies homiletics may be c ...
writings. He did his ecclesial studies just before
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 ...
broke out and was a brief hostage of the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
after the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
forces invaded
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 1939. He later came under the watch of the
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...
following the conflict for his attempt to see new churches constructed and church art and architecture preserved. The process for his beatification opened in 1994 and he became titled as a
Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
. The cause culminated on 21 December 2018 after
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 ...
confirmed his
heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...
which enabled for Pietraszko to be titled as
Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...
.


Life

Jan Pietraszko was born on 7 August 1911 in
Buczkowice Buczkowice is a village in Bielsko County, Silesian Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Buczkowice. It lies approximately south of Bielsko-Biała and south of the regional capital K ...
as the eldest of three children to the poor
farmers A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mi ...
Józef Pietraszko and Anna Migdał (d. 11.5.1914); he received his
baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...
in the Transfiguration church on 13 August from Father Andrzej Lenart. His two brothers were Władysław and Józef. His mother died when he was three after which his father married his sister-in-law on 15 August 1916 with whom he had seven children thus leaving Pietraszko with five half-sisters and two half-brothers. Pietraszko did his initial schooling in Buczkowice from 1917 until 1923 and then did
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
in
Bielsko-Biała Bielsko-Biała (; ; , ; ) is a city in southern Poland, with a population of approximately 166,765 as of December 2022, making it the List of cities and towns in Poland#Largest cities and towns by population, 22nd largest city in Poland, and an a ...
; he graduated from high school in 1931 and following this commenced his ecclesial studies. He did his theological studies in the
Jagiellonian The Jagiellonian ( ) or Jagellonian dynasty ( ; ; ), otherwise the Jagiellon dynasty (), the House of Jagiellon (), or simply the Jagiellons (; ; ), was the name assumed by a cadet branch of the Lithuanian ducal dynasty of Gediminids upon recep ...
and then received his
sacerdotal ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform vari ...
to the priesthood on 5 April 1936 (
Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...
) from the then-Archbishop
Adam Stefan Sapieha Prince Adam Stefan Stanisław Bonifacy Józef Sapieha (; 14 May 1867 – 23 July 1951) was a Polish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Kraków from 1911 to 1951. A member of the Polish nobility, between 1922 and 1923 he was a senator ...
in the Saint Francis church. From 1938 until 1939 and again from 1943 until 1944 he served as the aide and chaplain to Archbishop Sapieha. From 1936 until 1938 and again from 1939 until 1942 he served as a vicar in
Rabka Rabka may refer to the following places: * Rabka, Tibet, a village in China * Rabka-Zdrój, a town in Poland {{disambiguation ...
in the Saint Mary Magdalene parish. The
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
forces invaded
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 ...
therefore instigating
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 ...
and for a brief time the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
held him hostage. He served in the Trinity parish church from September 1942 until January 1943. From January 1944 until November 1946 he served as a vicar in
Zakopane Zakopane (Gorals#Language, Podhale Goral: ''Zokopane'') is a town in the south of Poland, in the southern part of the Podhale region at the foot of the Tatra Mountains. From 1975 to 1998, it was part of Nowy Sącz Voivodeship; since 1999, it has ...
and then from 1947 until 1948 served in the Saint Stephen parish. Pietraszko from September 1948 until his death served in the Saint Anne church where from 18 February 1957 he would act as the "de facto" parish priest in the absence of a pastor. From 24 September 1947 until 1957 he served as the prefect for the
seminarians A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...
of
Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
. On 23 November 1962 he had learned that
Pope John XXIII Pope John XXIII (born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; 25 November 18813 June 1963) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 28 October 1958 until his death on 3 June 1963. He is the most recent pope to take ...
made him an
auxiliary bishop An auxiliary bishop is a bishop assigned to assist the diocesan bishop in meeting the pastoral and administrative needs of the diocese. Auxiliary bishops can also be titular bishops of sees that no longer exist as territorial jurisdictions. ...
for the Kraków archdiocese (an appointment that Bishop Karol Józef Wojtyla (future
pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...
) had requested). He received his
episcopal consecration A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
on 15 April 1963 from 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 ...
in the
Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral (), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Saint Stanislaus and St. Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus, () is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it ...
; the principal
co-consecrators A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...
were Bishops Karol Józef Wojtyła (with whom he became close friends) and Julian Jan Groblicki. Pietraszko - as a new bishop - was able to attend the last two 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 ...
. He was enthusiastic about the Council and its reforms and supported the idea that he could celebrate the
Mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...
in Polish for the benefit of the faithful. Upon being made a bishop he was made a
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 ...
for the diocesan priesthood (auxiliaries are granted an area or region to look after) on 4 July 1963 and from 12 March 1966 headed the archdiocesan commission for architecture and art which he took a special interest in. He fought for the creation of new churches despite the atheistic
communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...
regime prohibiting this and it put him under the radar of the
secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For i ...
who began their watch over him since around 1970. It was an exceptional case after being made a bishop that Pietraszko did not resign his position as a parish priest to accept his episcopal nomination since he wished to remain a simple pastor. He spent a great deal of time in the
confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall where the priest from some Christian denominations sits to hear the confessions of a penitent's sins. It is the traditional venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Luther ...
making him a sought-after confessor; he was also noted for his sermons which he took great time in preparing (after careful reading) thus making him a popular preacher. These sermons had a basis in important aspects of
Sacred Scripture The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
but would be rooted in a particular subject that came from certain scriptural texts. He was known as an outstanding preacher; tens of thousands of copies of transcripts of his sermons were published by samizdat.Mazurczak, Filip. "Remembering Krakow’s saintly and heroic bishops", ''Catholic World Report'', May 17, 2023
/ref> He made it a practice where collections could not be taken during the traditional singing of
Christmas carols Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A liturgical feast central to Christianity, Chri ...
in his church. He walked around often in a simple black clerical cassock as opposed to his episcopal attire. From 20 December 1968 he began his membership in the archdiocesan liturgical commission. Pietraszko died in a neurological clinic on 2 March 1988. In an official telegram of condolence his friend Pope John Paul II hailed him for his "particular wisdom". His remains were interred on 7 March in the Saint Anne church under the altar of the Exaltation of the Cross.


Beatification process

The beatification process for the late prelate opened in the Kraków archdiocese under Cardinal Franciszek Macharski in a diocesan process that launched on 18 March 1994 and closed on 24 April 2001; its task was to accumulate documentation (including his spiritual writings) and witness interrogatories. The formal launch to the cause came on 7 July 1994 after the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints In the Catholic Church, the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, previously named the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (), is the dicastery of the Roman Curia that oversees the complex process that leads to the canonization of saints, passi ...
in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
issued the "
nihil obstat (Latin for 'nothing hinders' or 'nothing stands in the way') is a phrase traditionally used by Catholic Church authorities to formally declare that there is no objection to the publication of a book. It also has other uses. Publishing The ...
" (no objections) decree and titled Pietraszko as a
Servant of God Servant of God () is a title used in the Catholic Church to indicate that an individual is on the first step toward possible canonization as a saint. Terminology The expression ''Servant of God'' appears nine times in the Bible, the first five in ...
. The C.C.S. later validated this process on 22 February 2002 as having adhered to the congregation's regulations for conducting causes. In 2012 the postulation (officials in charge of the cause) submitted the
Positio A ''positio'' (short for the Latin ''positio super virtutibus'': "position on the virtues") is a document or collection of documents used in the process by which a Catholic person is declared Venerable, the second of four steps on the path to can ...
dossier to the C.C.S. officials. This dossier was the culmination of all the evidence gathered during the diocesan phase; it detailed the late bishop's life and his reputation for holiness thus making the official argument for his becoming a saint. Theologians approved the dossier on 27 February 2018 as did the C.C.S. cardinal and bishops months after. Pietraszko became titled as
Venerable ''The Venerable'' often shortened to Venerable is a style, title, or epithet used in some Christianity, Christian churches. The title is often accorded to holy persons for their spiritual perfection and wisdom. Catholic In the Catholic Churc ...
on 21 December 2018 after
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 ...
confirmed that he had practiced
heroic virtue Heroic virtue is the translation of a phrase coined by Augustine of Hippo to describe the virtue of early Christian martyrs. The phrase is used by the Roman Catholic Church. The Greek pagan term hero described a person with possibly superhuman a ...
during his lifetime. The first
postulator A postulator is the person who guides a cause for beatification or canonization through the judicial processes required by the Catholic Church. The qualifications, role and function of the postulator are spelled out in the ''Norms to be Observed i ...
assigned to the cause was
Stanisław Ryłko Stanisław Marian Ryłko (born 4 July 1945) is a Polish cardinal of the Catholic Church. He held positions in the Roman Curia beginning in 1987 and was president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity from 2003 to 2016. He was made a cardinal i ...
who had been a student of Pietraszko. The current postulator for this cause is
Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...
Właysław Gasidło.


Writings

* ''Considerations'' (1961 and 1964) * ''Meetings'' (1967) * ''Meditations on the Way'' (1977 and 1983)


References


External links


Hagiography Circle

Saints SQPN


{{DEFAULTSORT:Pietraszko, Jan 1911 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland 20th-century venerated Christians Bishops appointed by Pope John XXIII Clergy in World War II Jagiellonian University alumni Participants in the Second Vatican Council People from Bielsko County 20th-century Roman Catholic titular bishops Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis World War II civilian prisoners