Ignacy Jeż
Ignacy Ludwik Jeż ( born July 31, 1914 in Radomyśl Wielki, † October 16, 2007 in Rome) was bishop of Koszalin ( Koszalin ) and Kolobrzeg ( Kolberg ) By 1972 until 1992.
Life
Born on the eve of the outbreak of World War I, the son of John Vogt and Hedwig born Liszkowskas, he received at baptism the name of his birth -day Saints, Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuit order. He attended elementary school in Ostrow Wielkopolski and Katowice in high school and went there in May 1932, the High School. He decided to study theology itself, first in Cracow and then at the Theological Faculty of the University of Warsaw. He finished his studies in 1937 with a Master 's degree in theology. On 20 June 1937 he was bishop Stanisław Adamski from Katowice ordained a priest.
At his first pastorate in Wielkie Hajduki he met the priest Jozef Czempiel, a great preacher and witnesses (* September 21, 1883, † May 19 1942 in the Dachau concentration camp) know. He was on 13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II together with 107 martyrs of the Nazi persecution beatified. On the way back from a holiday in the Tyrolean mountains Ignacy Jeż station in Dachau made without knowing that his priestly friend a few days ago was martyred here. When he arrived home it became aware he celebrated a requiem for him. Observed by the Gestapo, he was arrested, interrogated in prison in Katowice and Wroclaw, and later interned in the concentration camp Dachau. With the prisoner number - 37196 -, white ribbon and red triangle with the letter P, he lived among brothers until he was liberated on 29 April 1945 by the Americans. After a stay near Göppingen, he returned to his homeland.
After a short stay in his parish catechists him the training was transferred. Escape the Nazi rulers, he had to face the conflict between the church and the communist state now.
On April 20, 1960, he was called by Pope John XXIII. appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Gniezno and titular bishop of Alba Maritima. The episcopal ordination donated to him on June 5, 1960 Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw. Co-consecrators were the Breslau auxiliary bishops Wilhelm Pluta and Bolesław Kominek, later Archbishop of Breslau and a cardinal. 1967 Jeż was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Breslau.
Pope Paul VI. appointed him in 1972 to the bishop of Koszalin - Kolobrzeg. On June 28, 1972, he was formally introduced in his cathedral church and took his new diocese in possession.
On February 1, 1992 his resignation at the age of 77 years of Pope John Paul II was upheld.
Work
Ignacy Jeż was one of the pioneers of the German - Polish friendship. He was the first Polish bishop who, a German priest appointed by the Würzburg Church journalists Helmut Holzapfel, which in turn was a tireless pioneer German - Polish understanding as Ehrendomherrn in the chapter of the newly established Diocese of Koszalin and again.
For his extensive work he has been awarded several times. He was honorary canon in Wurzburg, received the second highest Polish Order of Polonia Restituta, the Grand Cross of the " Order of the Rebirth of Poland ".
He was awarded by Federal President Horst Köhler with the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 2005.
In 2006 he was honored at Jakob- Kaiser House of the German Parliament in Berlin with the prize for civil courage " for being so courageous behavior as a young priest during the Nazi occupation in Poland."
At the request of the children, he received the International Award as a Cavalier of the Order of the Smile.
Pope Benedict XVI. announced on 17 October 2007 in announcing new cardinals, that he wanted to appoint Jeż, which was the day before, probably died of a heart attack.
Writings
- Ignacy Jeż, Karl Hillenbrand, Marian Subocz: light and darkness, bless the Lord, Camellia, Würzburg 2007, ISBN 3429029406!