Rafal Wladyslaw Kiernicki, O.F.M. Conv. (; ; 3 May 1912 – 23 November 1995) was a Roman Catholic prelate from Ukraine as the Titular Bishop of Dura and

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. ...

of Archdiocese of Lviv since 16 January 1991 until his death on 23 November 1995. Ukraine-Lviv-Latin Cathedral-4

Life

Kiernicki was born in the peasant Roman Catholic family of Antoni and Michalina (née Światłowska) Kiernicki in a present day of the territory of Kolomyia Raion of

Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast (), also referred to as Ivano-Frankivshchyna () or simply Frankivshchyna, is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (region) in western Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. It has a pop ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. After graduation of the primary school in his native village (1920–1924) and the neighbouring village Hvozdets (1924–1927), he continued to study in a Franciscan gymnasium in

Lviv 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 ...

(1927–1934). While studied in gymnasium, he joined the

Order of Friars Minor Conventual The Order of Friars Minor Conventual (O.F.M. Conv.) is a male religious fraternity in the Catholic Church and a branch of the Franciscan Order. Conventual Franciscan Friars are identified by the affix O.F.M. Conv. after their names. They are ...

in 1930; made a

profession A profession is a field of Work (human activity), work that has been successfully professionalized. It can be defined as a disciplined group of individuals, professionals, who adhere to ethical standards and who hold themselves out as, and are ...

on September 4, 1931 and a solemn profession on October 4, 1934. Kiernicki subsequently made a philosophical and theological studies at the Franciscan Theological Seminaries in Lviv,

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 ...

and at the Faculty of Theology of the

University of Lviv The Ivan Franko National University of Lviv (named after Ivan Franko, ) is a state-sponsored university in Lviv, Ukraine. Since 1940 the university is named after Ukrainian poet Ivan Franko. The university is the oldest institution of highe ...

and the Major Roman Catholic Theological Seminary in Lviv and was ordained as

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

on June 29, 1939 by Archbishop Bolesław Twardowski. During first Soviet and Nazi occupations of the

Western Ukraine Western Ukraine or West Ukraine (, ) refers to the western territories of Ukraine. There is no universally accepted definition of the territory's boundaries, but the contemporary Ukrainian administrative regions ( oblasts) of Chernivtsi, I ...

he served as a parish priest and professor in the Theological Seminary. In the same time he was the clandestine member and chaplain of the

Home Army The Home Army (, ; abbreviated AK) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) established in the ...

. Was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

in 1941, but avoided the death, because of the prison Brygidki's escape. In 1944 he was again arrested by NKVD and imprisoned until 1948, when was released and continued to serve as a parish priest and during a period of the

Polish population transfers (1944–1946) 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 ...

he remained in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. Rest of his life he spent as a Dean of the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Lviv (1949–1958, 1965–1991). Here he worked until 1991 under the Communist persecution of the

Religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

. On January 16, 1991, he was appointed by the

Pope 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 ...

as 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. ...

of the Archdiocese of Lviv and a

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox an ...

of Dura. On March 2, 1991, he was consecrated as bishop by Metropolitan Archbishop

Marian Jaworski Marian Franciszek Jaworski (, 21 August 1926 – 5 September 2020) was a Cardinal Priest and Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins in the Roman Catholic Church. He was a close friend of Pope John Paul II. Biography Early years Born the son o ...

and other prelates 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 ...

in the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption, Lviv. Kiernicki died in office in

on November 23, 1995 in the age 83. Kiernicki's canonisation process was opened on May 4, 2012 in the century of his birth date in the Cathedral Basilica in Lviv and he became 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 ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiernicki, Rafal 1912 births 1995 deaths Clergy from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast Clergy from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Polish Austro-Hungarians Conventual Friars Minor Conventual Franciscan bishops Ukrainian people of Polish descent University of Lviv alumni Ukrainian people imprisoned in the Soviet Union 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Ukraine Polish Servants of God