Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gdańsk

The Archdiocese of Gdańsk (Latin: Gedanen(sis)) is an archdiocese located in the city of Gdańsk in Poland.

Archdiocese of Gdańsk

Archidioecesis Gedanensis

Archidiecezja Gdańska
Co-Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Location
Country Poland
Statistics
Area2,500 km2 (970 sq mi)
Population
- Total
- Catholics (including non-members)		(as of 2013)
965,077
900,608 (93.3%)
Information
RiteLatin Rite
CathedralArchcathedral Basilica of The Holy Trinity, Blessed Virgin Mary and St Bernard in Gdańsk Oliwa
Co-cathedralThe Co-Cathedral of St Mary
Current leadership
PopeFrancis
Metropolitan ArchbishopSede Vacante
Auxiliary BishopsWiesław Szlachetka
Zbigniew Zieliński
Bishops emeritusSławoj Leszek Głódź
Map
Website
Website of the Archdiocese

According to the church statistics Sunday mass attendance was 38.1% in 2013 making it lower than the Polish average of weekly mass attendance (39.1%).

History

After World War I, the Free City of Danzig was split from Germany according to the Treaty of Versailles. The Catholic congregation West of the Vistula belonged to the Diocese of Chelmno, which was formerly also part of the German Empire but after 1919 part of the Second Polish Republic and East of the Vistula to the Diocese of Ermland, which remained part of Weimar Germany. Germans within the administration of the Diocese of Chelmno were replaced by Polish priests and the Polish language was implemented as binding.[1] While about 130,000 people in Danzig were Catholic, only about 10 percent of them were Polish-speaking and the first attempts to reorganize the ecclesiastical allocation were made in spring 1919, when members of the German congregation asked for an affiliation to the Diocese of Ermland.[1]

While these attempts were supported by the German government, the Polish government tried to preserve the current situation. Pope Pius XI decided to establish an Apostolic Administrator of the Free City of Danzig on 24 April 1922, which was directly subordinated to the Pope. In 1925 a concordat between Poland and the Holy See was signed and the Apostolic Administrator was now supposed to be subordinated to the Nuncio of Warsaw, which caused protests among the local populace. Thus the Pope established the exempt Diocese of Danzig on 30 December 1925 and appointed Edward O'Rourke as the first Bishop on 2 January 1926.[1]

The Diocese was promoted as Metropolitan Archdiocese of Gdańsk on 25 March 1992. On 17 November 1993, the Archbishop issued the instructions on the status of Kashubian as a language of liturgy.[2][3]

Reports of sex abuse

In 2019, three protestors toppled a statue of Rev. Henryk Jankowski following revelations that he sexually Barbara Borowiecka when she was a girl.[4][5] Jankowski, who also had a criminal investigation involving the sexual abuse of a boy dropped against him in 2004, had been defrocked in 2005.[5] However, he died in 2010 without ever being convicted of sex abuse.[5] It has also been acknowledged that Lech Walsea's personal chaplain Rev. Franciszek Cybula had been accused of committing acts of sex abuse while serving in the as well.[4] On August 13, 2020, Pope Francis removed Gdansk Archbishop Slawoj Leszek Glodz, who was among those who covered up abuse committed by Jankowski and Cybula.[4] Glodz had also presided over Cybula's funeral Despite the fact that Glodz turned 75, the required age for Catholic Bishops to offer their resignation, the move was described as "cleaning house," as it is highly unusual for the pope to accept such a resignation on a prelate's actual birthday.[4]

Special churches
Archbishop Sławoj Leszek Głódź

Leadership
Further information: List of bishops of Gdańsk

Suffragan dioceses

See also
  • Roman Catholicism in Poland

Sources
  1. Das Bistum Danzig in Lebensbildern (in German). Stefan Samerski. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  2. http://www.ies.ee/iesp/grabowska.pdf
  3. https://web.archive.org/web/20130614235239/http://www.diecezja.gda.pl/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=230
  4. https://www.wral.com/pope-cleans-house-in-poland-after-abuse-cover-up-scandal/19233772/
  5. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-poland-church-abuse/statue-of-polish-solidarity-priest-accused-of-paedophilia-removed-idUKKCN1QA1OA

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