Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek

Diocese of Włocławek Dioecesis Vladislaviensis Diecezja Włocławska
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Włocławek
Location
Country	Poland
Metropolitan	Gniezno
Statistics
Area	8,824 km2 (3,407 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2014) 769,937 762,750 (99.1%)
Information
Rite	Latin Rite
Cathedral	Katedra Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny (Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Wiesław Mering
Metropolitan Archbishop	Wojciech Polak
Auxiliary Bishops	Stanisław Gębicki
Emeritus Bishops	Bronisław Dembowski
Map
Website
Website of the Diocese

Basilica of Our Lady (left) Sanktuary of the Mother of God victorious in Brdów (right)

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Włocławek Latin: Vladislavien(sis), until the 20th century known as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kujawy, is a suffragan diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in the Ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno in western Poland.

Its cathedral episcopal see is a Minor Basilica: Bazylika Katedralna Wniebowzięcia NMP in the city of Włocławek, in Kujawsko-Pomorskie.
It has two more Minor Basilicas:

• Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń (Bazylika MB Bolesnej Królowej Polski), in Licheń Stary, Wielkopolskie
• Bazylika Wniebowzięcia NMP, in Zduńska Wola, Łódzkie.

The diocese is currently headed by the Bishop Wiesław Mering, appointed in 2003.

History

• We disregard the presumably merely-legendary precursor(?) Diocese of Kruszwica (966–1156)
• Established in 1015 as Diocese of Kujawy–Pomorze (i.e. Kujawy–Pomerania) / Kruszwicka (Polish) / Cuiavia–Pomerania (Curiate Italian), on territory split off from the suppressed Diocese of Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)
• Renamed in 1148 as Diocese of Kujawy–Pomorze / Cuiavia–Pomerania (Italiano) / since ca. 1124/26 called Włocławek after its see
• Gained territory in 1633 from the Diocese of Płock
• Renamed on 1818.06.30 as Diocese of Kujawy–Kaliska / Cuiavia–Kalisz (Italiano), having lost territories to its Metropolitan the Archdiocese of Gniezno, to Diocese of Poznań, to Diocese of Wrocław and to Diocese of Płock.
• Renamed on 1925.10.28 after its see as Diocese of Włocławek / Wladislavia / Vladislavien(sis) (Latin adjective)
• Lost territory on 1992.03.25 to establish the Diocese of Kalisz.
• It enjoyed Papal visits from the Polish Pope John Paul II in June 1991 and June 1999.

Statistics

As per 2014, it pastorally served 762,750 Catholics (99.1% of 769,937 total) on 8,824 km² in 232 parishes and 132 missions with 568 priests (481 diocesan, 87 religious), 452 lay religious (124 brothers, 328 sisters) and 60 seminarians.

Episcopal Ordinaries

(all Roman rite)

Imported from List of bishops of Kujawy (Włocławek) and ameneded; sources contradict often, notably in the first centuries

Suffragan Bishops of Kujawy–Pomorze

(Kujawy–Pomerania, Włocławek) (1133–1818)

• Swidger (1128? – 1151;? attested from 1133)
• Onold (1151? – 1160?; attested 1161–1180)
• Rudger (1160? – 1170?)
• Werner (1170? – 1178? or 1148–1156?)
• Wunelf (1178? – 1190?)
• Stefan (attested 1187–1198 –)
• Ogerius (1197 – 1203; attested 1206?– 1212 )
• Bartha (1203 – 1215; attested 1213–1220)
• Michael = Michał (1215 – 1256 or 1222–1252)
• Wolimir = Wolimir (1256 – 1271 or 1252–1275)
• Albierz/Wojciech (1271?1275 – 1283)

BIOS to CHECK/ELABORATE

• 1284–1300 – Wisław
• 1300–1323 – Gerward
• 1324–1364 – Maciej z Gołańczy
• 1364–1383 – Zbylut z Wąsosza
• 1383–1383 – Trojan
• 1384–1389 – Jan Kropidło
• 1389–1398 – Henry VIII of Legnica (Henryk VIII legnicki)
• 1399–1402 – Mikołaj Kurowski
• 1402–1421 – Jan Kropidło (again)
• 1421–1427 – Jan Pella
• 1427–1433 – Jan Szafraniec
• 1433–1449 – Władysław Oporowski
• 1449–1450 – Mikołaj Lasocki
• 1450–1463 – Jan Gruszczyński
• 1463–1464 – Jan Lutek
• 1464–1472 – Jakub z Sienna
• 1473–1480 – Zbigniew Oleśnicki
• 1481–1483 – Andrzej Oporowski
• 1484–1493 – Piotr Moszyński
• 1494–1503 – Krzesław Kurozwęcki
• 1503–1513 – Wincenty Przerębski
• 1513–1531 – Maciej Drzewicki
• 1531–1538 – Jan Karnkowski
• 1538–1542 – Łukasz II Górka
• 1542–1546 – Mikołaj Dzierzgowski
• 1546–1551 – Andrzej Zebrzydowski
• 1551–1557 – Jan Drohojowskii
• 1557–1565 – Jakub Uchański
• 1565–1567 – Mikołaj Wolski
• 1567–1580 – Stanisław Karnkowski
• 1581–1600 – Hieronim Rozrażewski
• 1600–1603 – Jan Tarnowski
• 1603–1607 – Piotr Tylicki
• 1608–1608 – Wojciech Baranowski
• 1608–1610 – Maciej Pstrokoński
• 1610–1616 – Wawrzyniec Gembicki^[1]
• 1616–1622 – Paweł Wołucki
• 1622–1631 – Andrzej Lipski
• 1631–1642 – Maciej Łubieński
• 1642–1654 – Mikołaj Wojciech Gniewosz
• 1654–1673 – Kazimierz Florian Czartoryski
• 1674–1675 – Jan Gembicki
• 1675–1680 – Stanisław Sarnowski
• 1680–1691 – Bonawentura Madaliński
• 1691–1700 – Stanisław Dąmbski
• 1700–1705 – Stanisław Szembek
• 1705–1720 – Felicjan Konstanty Szaniawski
• 1720–1735 – Krzysztof Antoni Szembek
• 1735–1741 – Adam Stanisław Grabowski
• 1741–1751 – Walenty Aleksander Czapski
• 1751–1763 – Antoni Sebastian Dembowski
• 1763–1776 – Antoni Kazimierz Ostrowski
• 1777–1806 – Józef Ignacy Rybiński
• 1806–1815 – vacant
• 1815–1818 – Franciszek Malczewski

Suffragan Bishops of Kujawy–Kaliska

BIOS to CHECK/ELABORATE

• 1818–1822 – Andrzej Wołłowicz
• 1822–1831 – Józef Szczepan Koźmian
• 1831–1836 – vacant
• 1836–1850 – Walenty Maciej Bończa
• 1850–1856 – vacant
• 1856–1867 – Jan Michał Marszewski
• 1867–1876 – vacancy
• 1876–1883 – Wincenty Teofil Popiel
• 1883–1902 – Aleksander Kazimierz Bereśniewicz
• Stanisław Kazimierz Zdzitowiecki (1902–1925 see below)

Bishop Wiesław Mering.

Suffragan Bishops of Włocławek

BIOS to CHECK/ELABORATE

• Stanisław Kazimierz Zdzitowiecki (see above 1925–1927 –)
• 1927–1928 – Władysław Paweł Krynicki
• 1928–1951 – Karol Mieczysław Radoński
• 1951–1968 – Antoni Pawłowski
• 1969–1986 – Jan Zaręba
• 1987–1992 – Henryk Muszyński
• 1992–2003 – Bronisław Dembowski
• Wiesław Mering (2003 – ...)

Auxiliary bishops

TO COMPLETE AND WORK-IN ABOVE

• • 1514–? – Aleksander Myszczynski^[2]
  • 1581–1585 – Maciej Wielicki^[3]
  • 1597–1617 – Franciszek Lanczki^[4]
  • 1617–1632 – Balthasar Miaskowski^[5]
  • 1634–1638 – Krzysztof Charbicki^[6]
  • 1639–1643 – Wenceslaus Paprocki^[7]
  • 1643–1652 – Piotr Mieszkowski (titular bishop of Margarita)^[8]
  • 1652–? – Valerius Wilezogerzosi^[9]
  • 1653–1677 – Stanisław Domaniewski^[10]
  • 1678–1696 – Piotr Mieszkowski (titular bishop of Marocco o Marruecos)^[11]
  • 1695–? – Andreas Albinowski^[12]
  • 1709–1723 – Wojciech Ignacy Bardziński^[13]
  • 1725–1736 – Franciszek Antoni Kobielski^[14]
  • 1737–1739 – Aleksander Działyński^[15]
  • 1740–1759 – Franciszek Kanigowski^[16]
  • 1759–1788 – Jan Dembowski^[17]
  • 1766–1775 – Cyprian Kazimierz von Wolicki^[18]
  • 1775–1781 – Maciej Grzegorz Garnysz^[19]
• 1781–1799 – Ludwik Stanisław Górski^[20]
  • 1789–1793 – Marcin Chyczewski^[21]
• 1794–1819 – Feliks Łukasz Lewiński^[22]
  • 1819–1825 – Józef Marcelin Dzięcielski^[23]
  • 1838–1844 – Józef Joachim Goldtmann^[24]
  • 1844–1861 – Taddeo Łubieński^[25]
• 1884–1898 – Carlo Pollner^[26]
  • 1884–1889 – Henryk Piotr Kossowski^[27]
  • 1918–1938 – Wojciech Stanisław Owczarek^[28]
  • 1918–1927 – Władysław Paweł Krynicki, Appointed Bishop of Włocławek^[29]
  • 1939–1943 – Bl. Michaël Kozal^[30]
• 1962–1979 – Kazimierz Jan Majdański^[31]
  • 1946–1972 – Franciszek Salezy Korszyński^[32]
• 1963–1969 – Jan Zareba, Appointed Bishop of Włocławek^[33]
  • 1973–1997 – Czeslaw Lewandowski^[34]
  • 1981–2003 – Roman Andrzejewski^[35]
  • 1999–present – Stanisław Gębicki^[36]

See also

• List of Catholic dioceses in Poland
• Parish of the Holiest Saviour, Włocławek
• Roman Catholicism in Poland

References

Sources and external links

• GCatholic.org, with Google map & satellite photo - data for all sections
• Catholic Hierarchy
• Diocese website
• Jan Fijałek: Ustalenie chronologii biskupów włocławskich, Kraków 1894

Coordinates: 52°39′39″N 19°04′04″E / 52.6608°N 19.0678°E / 52.6608; 19.0678