Roman Catholic Diocese of Kielce

The Diocese of Kielce (Latin: Dioecesis Kielcensis) is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church located in the city of Kielce in the ecclesiastical province of Kraków in Poland.

Diocese of Kielce Dioecesis Kielcensis Diecezja kielecka
Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kielce
Location
Country	Poland
Metropolitan	Kraków
Statistics
Area	8,319 km2 (3,212 sq mi)
Population - Total - Catholics	(as of 2021) 811,981 739,000 (91%)
Information
Denomination	Catholic Church
Rite	Latin Rite
Cathedral	Bazylika Katedralna Wniebowzięcia Najświętszej Marii Panny (Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary)
Current leadership
Pope	Francis
Bishop	Jan Piotrowski
Auxiliary Bishops	Marian Florczyk[1] Andrzej Kaleta
Map

Its Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kielce is listed as a Historic Monument of Poland.^[2]

History

• 1805: Established as Diocese of Kielce from the Diocese of Kraków
• 1818: Suppressed
• December 28, 1882: Restored as Diocese of Kielce

Special churches

Bazylika Narodzenia Najświętszej Maryi Panny, Wiślica

• Minor Basilicas:
  • Bazylika Grobu Bożego, Miechów
  • Bazylika Matki Bożej Anielskiej, Dąbrowa Górnicza
  • Bazylika Narodzenia Najświętszej Maryi Panny, Wiślica (Basilica of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Bishops

• Bishop Wojciech Górski (1805.06.26 – 1818.02.01)
• Bishop Tomasz Teofil Kuliński (1883.03.15 – 1907.01.08)
• Bishop Augustyn Łosiński (1910.04.26 – 1937.03.03)
• Bishop Czesław Kaczmarek (1938.05.24 – 1963.08.26)
• Bishop Jan Jaroszewicz (1967.03.20 – 1980.04.17)
• Bishop Stanisław Szymecki (1981.03.27 – 1993.05.15), appointed Archbishop of Białystok
• Bishop Kazimierz Ryczan (1993.07.17 – 2014.10.11)
• Bishop Jan Piotrowski (since 2014.10.11)

Auxiliary Bishops

• Marian Florczyk (1998-)
• Jan Gurda (1972-1993)
• Kazimierz Gurda (2004-2014), appointed Bishop of Siedlce
• Jan Jaroszewicz (1957-1967), appointed Bishop here
• Mieczyslaw Jaworski (1982-2001)
• Andrzej Kaleta (2017-)
• Tomasz Teofil Kuliński (1872-1883), appointed Bishop here
• Edward Henryk Materski (1968-1981), appointed Bishop of Sandomierz
• Edward Jan Muszyński (1960-1968)
• Piotr Skucha (1986-1992), appointed auxiliary bishop of Sosnowiec
• Szczepan (Stefano) Sobalkowski (1957-1958)
• Franciszek Sonik (1935-1957)

Another priest of this diocese who became bishop

• Henryk Mieczysław Jagodziński, appointed nuncio and titular archbishop in 2020

Reports of Sexual Abuse

In May 2019, a documentary called Tell No One was released featuring a priest identified as Jan A., who served the Diocese in the town Topola, who confessed to molesting young girls.^[3] Officials in the Diocese had previously investigated claims made against Jan A. and sent collected evidence to the Vatican in January 2019.^[3]

See also

• Roman Catholicism in Poland
• The Lesser Polish Way

References

1. "Resignations and Appointments, 11.11.2019" (Press release). Holy See Press Office. 11 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
2. Rozporządzenie Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej z dnia 22 listopada 2017 r. w sprawie uznania za pomnik historii "Kielce - dawny pałac biskupów i katedra", Dz. U., 2017, No. 2275
3. Vanessa, Gera (2019-05-13). "Documentary about pedophile priests shakes up Poland". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 2019-05-16. Retrieved 2019-05-19.

Sources

• GCatholic.org
• Catholic Hierarchy
• Diocese website

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