Szczepan Hołowczyc '' de armis'' Pierzchała (19 August 1741–27 August 1823) was a Roman Catholic archbishop of

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 ...

from 1818 until his death in 1823 and a senator 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 ...

. He previously served as bishop of

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; , ) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (), situated on the Vistula River near its confluence with the San, in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy ...

from 1819 to 1820. Hołowczyc was the son of Basil and Mary Hołowczyc (). He studied at a Jesuit seminary in Vilnius from 1771; after his ordination in 1772, he continued his studies in Rome. He was then appointed parish priest at

Kutno Kutno is a city in central Poland with 42,704 inhabitants (2021) and an area of . It is the capital of Kutno County in the Łódź Voivodeship. Founded in the medieval period, Kutno was a local center of crafts and trade, owing its growth to i ...

in 1773. In 1774, he departed for Rome to study canon law, eventually visiting Germany. After returning to Poland in 1776, he was appointed as secretary for Michał Jerzy Poniatowski, who appointed him to the

rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, p ...

in Osiek. That same year, Hołowczyc went to

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 ...

, where he passed law examinations at Kraków University and was made a

doctor of both laws A doctor of both laws, from the Latin , , or ("doctor of both laws") (abbreviations include: JUD, IUD, DUJ, JUDr., DUI, DJU, Dr.iur.utr., Dr.jur.utr., DIU, UJD and UID), is a scholar who has acquired a doctorate in both civil and church law ...

. In 1781, Hołowczyc was appointed

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

of the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

at Warsaw; he was then appointed to the rectory at Wrocimowice in 1783, and was later appointed canon of the cathedral chapter of the

Archdiocese of Kraków 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 ...

in 1785. In 1789, he was appointed dean and prelate of the cathedral chapter of the Diocese of Kielce. In 1818, he was appointed a senator of

; the following year, on 29 March 1819, he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Sandomierz. He was consecrated on 6 June 1819 by Adam Michał Prażmowski. On 24 April 1819, he was appointed

vicar capitular A diocesan administrator (also known as archdiocesan administrator, archiepiscopal administrator and eparchial administrator for the case, respectively, of an archdiocese, archeparchy, and eparchy) is a provisional ordinary of a Catholic part ...

of the Archdiocese of Warsaw. On 17 December 1819, Hołowczyc was appointed archbishop of Warsaw; he assumed canonical control of the Archdiocese on 19 December of the same year. He died on 27 August 1823; his funeral was held on 5 September and he was buried at St. John's Archcathedral.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Holowczyc, Szczepan Archbishops of Warsaw 1741 births 1823 deaths Senators of Congress Poland