Maria Michał Kowalski

Maria Michał Kowalski
Archbishop
Church Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites
In office 1909–1935
Successor Maria Izabela Wiłucka-Kowalska
Other posts 29 December 1929 in Old Catholic Mariavite Church
Continued in Catholic Mariavite Church
Orders
Consecration 5 October 1909
by Gerardus Gul
Personal details
Birth name Jan Kowalski
Born (1871-12-25)December 25, 1871[lower-alpha 1]
Latowicz, Vistula Land, Russian Empire
Died May 18, 1942(1942-05-18) (aged 70)
Hartheim Euthanasia Centre, Anschluss Austria
Buried unknown
Denomination Roman Catholic (1871–1906[lower-alpha 2])
Mariavite (1906–1942[lower-alpha 3])
Spouse Maria Izabela Wiłucka-Kowalska[2]
Children Michael[3]
Sainthood
Venerated in Catholic Mariavite Church
Canonized 1942
by popular acclaim
Shrines Felicjanów, Płock County, Poland

Jan Maria Michał Kowalski (25 December 1871 – 18 May 1942[6][lower-alpha 1]) was a Polish priest, the first Minister General of the order of the Mariavites.

Nałęcz coat of arms of Kowalski's heraldic family.[7]

Life

Jan Maria Michał Kowalski came from a farming family in Latowicz, the son of John and Catherine Sitek Kowalski. He studied at the Warsaw seminary and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on April 24, 1897 by Auxiliary Bishop of Mogilev, Francis Symon. Kowalski served in parishes in Lodz, Niesułków and Stara Sobotka. In 1900, he became a vicar at the Church of the Capuchins in Warsaw. a former seminary colleague introduced him to the Mariavite movement, and he became a close collaborator of the foundress Feliksa Kozłowska.

At the time of his selection, he was the most important person in this Christian movement. He was consecrated bishop in 1909 by the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches Gerardus Gul, archbishop of the Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht. In 1919, the Mariavites officially changed their name to the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites. Kowalski later called himself an archbishop.

Death

Memorial plaque

Kowalski was killed, at 70, during World War II at the Nazi Hartheim Euthanasia Centre in Alkoven, Anschluss Austria. He was one of the victims of the Nazi war criminal Karl Brandt, who led the euthanasia Action 14f13.[lower-alpha 8]

Successors

Kowalski was deposed on 29 January 1935 by the General Chapter of the Old Catholic Mariavite Church in Płock; his successor in the Old Catholic Mariavite Church was Maria Filip Feldman.[8]

When Kowalski was deposed, a faction of his followers separated from the Old Catholic Mariavite Church and became the Catholic Mariavite Church in Felicjanów. His successor in the Catholic Mariavite Church was his wife, Archpriestess Maria Izabela Wiłucka-Kowalska.

Notes

  1. 1 2 Peterkiewicz (1975, pp. 21–22) notes that biographical articles also give both 26 and 27 December as birth dates.
  2. ↑ He was excommunicated from the Catholic Church in 1906.[1]
  3. ↑ Mariavite was recognized as a sect in 1906.[1]
  4. 1 2 Co-consecrated with Old Catholic bishops.[4]
  5. ↑ KSM & "Biskupi Mariawiccy" does not include this consecration.
  6. ↑ Peterkiewicz (1975, p. 170) contradicts this and states Siedlecki was "consecrated by the bishopesses alone" at that time.
  7. ↑ Peterkiewicz (1975) does not include this consecration.
  8. ↑ Peterkiewicz (1975, p. 183) stated he was gassed on 18 May 1942.

Citations

  1. 1 2 Peterkiewicz 1975, p. 37.
  2. ↑ Peterkiewicz 1975; Collinson 1994, p. 145: "the first of Kowalski's women and regarded by the law as his wife"
  3. ↑ Peterkiewicz 1975, pp. 148, 190.
  4. ↑ Peterkiewicz 1975, p. 41.
  5. ↑ Peterkiewicz (1975, pp. 39, 142, 224); Rybak (n.d., pp. 107–108, 110) and KSM & "Biskupi Mariawiccy" only includes consecrations by Kowalski prior to the January 1935 deposition of Kowalski.
  6. ↑ Peterkiewicz 1975, p. 183; KSM "Biskupi Mariawiccy".
  7. ↑ Peterkiewicz 1975, p. 7.
  8. ↑ Peterkiewicz 1975, pp. 166–167.

References

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