Zbigniew Kiernikowski (born 2 July 1946 in Szamarzewo) 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 ...

prelate of the

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 ...

who was bishop of Legnica from 2014 to 2021 and of Siedlce from 2002 to 2014.

Biography

Kiernikowski was ordained to the priesthood on 6 June 1971. He completed a dissertation in Theology in 1983 at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, ''Angelicum'' titled ''La crescita della comunità, Corpo di Cristo : l'identità e il dinamismo della vita cristiana rispecchiate nella dinamica del testo della Lettera ai Colossesi''. Kiernikowski was named bishop of

Siedlce Siedlce () ( ) is a city in the Masovian Voivodeship in eastern Poland with 77,354 inhabitants (). The city is situated between two small rivers, the Muchawka and the Helenka, and lies along the European route E30, around east of Warsaw. It is ...

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 ...

, on 28 March 2002. On 16 April 2014, he was named bishop of

Legnica Legnica (; , ; ; ) is a city in southwestern Poland, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the Kaczawa River and the Czarna Woda. As well as being the seat of the county, since 1992 the city has been the seat of the Diocese of Legnica. Le ...

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 ...

accepted his resignation on 28 June 2021, following his investigation by the Vatican into his negligence in a sexual abuse case.

Honors and awards

National awards

* : **

Knight's Cross of the

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(2009)

References

External links

1946 births Living people People from Września County Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Poland {{Poland-RC-bishop-stub