Jan Piotrowski (born 5 January 1953) is 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, being the archbishop of the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Kielce
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
since 2014. He previously served as the auxiliary bishop of Tarnów and titular bishop of
Sinitis from 2013 to 2014.
Biography
Early life
Piotrowski was born on 5 January 1953 in
Szczurowa
Szczurowa is a village in Brzesko County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Szczurowa. It lies approximately north of Brzesko and east of the regional capital Krak ...
.
He studied at the High School in
Radłów
Radłów is a town in Tarnów County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Radłów. It is situated at the river Dunajec approximately north-west of Tarnów and east ...
, where he passed the secondary school-leaving examination. In 1972, he began studying at the Major Seminary in
Tarnów
Tarnów () is a city in southeastern Poland with 105,922 inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of 269,000 inhabitants. The city is situated in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship. It is a major rail junction, located on the strategic east– ...
.
He was ordained a priest on 25 May 1980 in the
cathedral basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Tarnów by the local diocesan bishop
Jerzy Ablewicz.
From 1992 to 1994, Piotrowski studied at the
Catholic Institute in Paris
The Institut catholique de Paris (, abbr. ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France.
History: 1875–present
The Institut ...
from where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in theology.
He obtained his doctoral degree in theology in the field of
missionology in 1997 at the Faculty of Theology of the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw, with his dissertation being the establishment and maturing of the Church in the Congolese land of
Grand Niari.
Priestly ministry
From 1980 to 1982, Piotrowski worked as a priest and vicar in the parish of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in
Przecław
Przecław is a small town in Mielec County, Subcarpathian Voivodeship, in south-eastern Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Przecław. It lies in Lesser Poland, approximately south of Mielec and north-west ...
, and then from 1982 to 1984, he was the priest of the parish of the Holy Spirit in
Mielec
Mielec () is the largest city and County seat, seat of Mielec County. Mielec is located in south-eastern Poland (Lesser Poland), in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship (Województwo Podkarpackie). The population of Mielec in December 2021 was 59,509.
...
. From 1984 to 1985, he papered for missionary work at the Mission Formation Center 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 ...
, and then, for five months, he studied
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
at the
Alliance Française school in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. From 1985 to 1991, he conducted missionary work in the
People's Republic of Congo
People's, branded as ''People's ViennaLine'' until May 2018, and legally ''Altenrhein Luftfahrt Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH'', is an Austria, Austro-Switzerland, Swiss airline headquartered in Vienna, Austria. It operates schedul ...
. He helped start the new parish of the Holy Spirit in
Kimongo District, of which he was a pastor from 1984 to 1985. Piotrowski also worked in the parish of conversion of Saint Paul in
Loubomo
Dolisie, known as Loubomo (or Lubomo) between 1975 and 1991, is a city and a commune. It is the capital of Niari in the south western of the Republic of the Congo, the country's third largest city and an important commercial centre. The city lie ...
, from 1985 to 1990. From 1991 to 1992 and 1994 to 1997, he was the national secretary of the Pontifical Work of Saint Peter the Apostle. From 1997 to 1998 and 1999 to 2000, he worked as a pastor in the parish of Santa Maria de Huachipa in the suburbs of
Lima
Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
in
Peru
Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...
. For health reasons, he temporarily returned to the country, where he was appointed as administrative director and lecturer at the Catholic Center for Social Studies in
Lipnica Murowana
Lipnica Murowana is a village in southern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Bochnia and south-east of the regional capital Kraków. It is the seat of the district called Gmina Lipnica Murowana, within Bochnia County.
The village is ...
, as well as the administrator of the parish of St. Andrew in Lipnica Murowana. From 2000 to 2010, Piotrowski was the national director of the Pontifical Missionary Works in Poland, at the same time the editor-in-chief of the magazines Missions Today, World Missionary, and Light of Nations published by the Papal Missionary Works. From 2003 to 2009, he was a member of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Nations. In the years 2006–2010, he gave lectures commissioned on the history of missions and papal missionary works at the
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw
Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to
* Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae
***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
. He also lectured in formation at the Diocesan House of Missionary Formation Fr. Jan Czuba in
Czchów
Czchów (, ) is a town in Brzesko County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,288 inhabitants as of December 2021. It lies on the Dunajec river, and along National Road Nr. 75. In the years 1928-2000, Czchów was a village.
History
The his ...
. He became a member of the International Association of Catholic Missionaries (IACM), the Association of Polish Missionaries (SMP).
In 2009, he was appointed pastor of the parish of St. Małgorzata in
Nowy Sącz
Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the Beskid S ...
. He took the position of dean of the Nowy Sącz deanery and was also a member of the pastoral and priesthood council. He was also appointed the provost of the Collegiate Chapter in Nowy Sącz.
Ordination as bishop
On 14 December 2013, Piotrowski was appointed by
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 ...
as the auxiliary bishop of the diocese of Tarnów as well as the titular bishop of Sinitis.
He was ordained as a bishop on 28 September 2011 in the
Cathedral Basilica of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
A cathedral is a church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations with an episcop ...
, with the consecrator being the bishop of Tarnów,
Andrzej Jeż
Andrzej Jeż (born 3 May 1963) is a Polish Roman Catholic bishop, being the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tarnów since 2012. He was previously the auxiliary bishop of Tarnów and titular bishop of Tigillava from 2009 to 2012.
Biogr ...
, with the co-consecrators being
Celestino Migliore
Celestino Migliore (born 1 July 1952) is an Italian Archbishop of the Catholic Church who serves as the Apostolic Nuncio to France. He previously served as
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. He has spent most of his care ...
, the titular archbishop of Canosa, and
Władysław Bobowski Władysław is a Polish given male name, cognate with Vladislav. The feminine form is Władysława, archaic forms are Włodzisław (male) and Włodzisława (female), and Wladislaw is a variation. These names may refer to:
People Mononym
*Włodzis� ...
, the titular bishop of Abernethia.
Piotrowski chose "In Caritate Evangelium Prædicare" (To preach the Gospel in love) as his bishop's motto.
On 11 October 2014, Pope Francis appointed Piotrowski as the new bishop of Kielce, replacing the retiring
Kazimierz Ryczan
Kazimierz Ryczan (10 February 1939 – 13 September 2017) was a Polish people, Polish Roman Catholic bishop.
Ordained to the priesthood on 16 June 1963, Ryczan was named bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kielce, Poland on 17 July 1993.
Pop ...
. He was officially installed as bishop in the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption
of the Blessed Virgin Mary on 29 November 2014.
Life as bishop
As part of the work of the Polish Bishops' Conference, in 2017, Piotrowski became the chairman of the Team for Contacts with the French Bishops' Conference, and in 2019, the Economic Council.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piotrowski, Jan
1953 births
Living people
People from Brzesko County
21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland
Institut Catholique de Paris alumni
Polish Roman Catholic missionaries
Roman Catholic missionaries in the Republic of the Congo
Roman Catholic missionaries in Peru