Jan Kowalski, later known as Maria Michał Kowalski ( ), was a Polish Roman Catholic

diocesan priest 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 associate ...

who became a schismatic religious leader and controversial innovator. Following

excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in Koinonia, communion with other members o ...

from his church, he was consecrated as a bishop in the

Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht The Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht is an archdiocese within the Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands which split from the Archdiocese of Utrecht officially in 1723 because of the illicit consecration of Cornelius van Steenoven to the ...

, established the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites in Poland, rose to be its archbishop and died a

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

. He is venerated as a saint in the

Catholic Mariavite Church The Catholic Mariavite Church is an independent Old Catholic denomination in Poland resulting from a schism in 1935 within the Old Catholic Mariavite Church. Origins Originally, the ''Mariavite movement'' emerged as a call for renewal within th ...

Early life

He came from a wealthy farming family in

Latowicz Latowicz is a town in Mińsk County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Latowicz. It lies approximately south-east of Mińsk Mazowiecki and east of Warsaw Warsa ...

, one of twins and son of Jan and Katarzyna née Sitek. His twin sister died in infancy. After basic schooling, he studied at the diocesan seminary 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 ...

. He was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on 24 April 1897, by the Auxiliary Bishop of

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

, Franciszek Albin Symon. Kowalski served in parishes in

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

Niesułków Niesułków is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Stryków, within Zgierz County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Stryków, east of Zgierz, and north-east of the regional capital Łód� ...

and

Stara Sobótka Stara Sobótka is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Grabów, within Łęczyca County, Łódź Voivodeship, in central Poland. It lies approximately north of Grabów, north-west of Łęczyca, and north-west of the regional capit ...

. In 1900, he became a curate at the Capuchin Church in Warsaw.

Religious radical

In 1900 after a former seminary colleague had introduced him to the "Mariavite" movement, he met with the superior of the covert ''Order of Mariavite Priests'', Kazimierz Przyjemski. In September of that year he entered the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the order and took his first vows to follow the rule of the

Minor Friars The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor being the largest contem ...

. He took the religious name, ''Maria Michał''. At Christmas 1901 he met the foundress Feliksa Kozłowska and was deeply impressed by her spirituality and ambitions for the Polish clergy. Despite his modest social background, his forceful personality enabled him to overtake the influence of other well educated and high-born clerics in her circle. He soon became her closest collaborator and confidante. Early in 1903 he was elected provincial of the

Płock Płock (pronounced ), officially the Ducal Capital City of Płock, is a city in central Poland, on the Vistula river, in the Masovian Voivodeship. According to the data provided by Central Statistical Office (Poland), GUS on 31 December 2021, the ...

group of Mariavite priests. On 6 August, while a Mariavite delegation was applying for ecclesiastical recognition in the Vatican, Kowalski still only 32, was elected

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the order and became representative of the ''Association of Mariavites of Perpetual Adoration and Beseeching''. Between 1904 and 1906 he headed delegations to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and to the

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word '' synod'' comes from the Ancient Greek () ; the term is analogous with the Latin word . Originally, ...

of Polish bishops in the territory of

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

, lobbying for recognition of the Mariavite message contained in the "private revelations" vouchsafed to Feliksa Kozłowska and for approval of the Mariavite association.

Kowalski as envoy

The newly established movement had been intended to generate internal reform of the church in Poland. Until 1903 it had not been recognised by the Roman Catholic hierarchy in divided and occupied Poland. That year, the provincials of the ''Mariavite order'' presented the texts of Kozłowska's visionary revelations and a history of the movement to the

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 ...

Jerzy Józef Szembek Jerzy Józef Elizeusz Szembek (14 June 1851 – 7 August 1905) was a Roman Catholic bishop of the Archdiocese of Mohilev. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Płock from 1901 to 1903. Biography Szembek was born to Józef and ...

and to the archbishops of

and of

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

in the hope of gaining

Early life

Religious radical

Kowalski as envoy

External links