Przejdź do głównego menu Przejdź do sekcji głównej Przejdź do stopki
Nagłówek strony

Nr 16 (2017)

Teologia systematyczna

Arcybiskup Zaleski misjonarz Indii Wschodnich

Opublikowane: 20.12.2017

Abstrakt

Archbischop Władysław Zaleski the missionary of the East Indies

The author of the article is presenting the figure of Władysław Michał Bonifacy Zaleski (1852 – 1925), who was a Catholic archbishop, Apostolic Delegate to the East Indies and Latin Patriarch of Antioch, as a missionary.

Archbishop Zaleski was born on 26 May 1852 in Wielona, presently Lithuania, in a noble Polish family. He was the son of Leon Zaleski and Gabriela of Dombrowicz. In 1880 he joined the Warsaw Theological Seminary, and in 1881 he moved for further studies to the Pontifical Academy of Ecclesiastical Nobles, where he received diplomatic training, and contemporary to the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he obtained a doctorate in Theology. He received the priestly ordination in 1882 in Florence. In 1885 he was sent on a diplomatic mission to Spain, and a year later for the first time he went to the East Indies, accompanying Archbishop Antonio Agliardi, the first Apostolic Delegate to India. In 1887, Pope Leo XIII appointed him as his personal representative to the 50th anniversary of the reign of Queen Victoria. For a time, he remained employed in the Roman Curia, as consulter for Eastern affairs at the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide). From 1889 to 1890 Msgr. Zaleski worked at the Apostolic Nunciature in Paris. In 1890 he returned to India, where on 5 March 1892, he replaced Archbishop Andrea Aiuti as the Apostolic Delegate of the East Indies. Along with the nomination for the Apostolic Delegate in the East Indies, Msgr. Zaleski was elevated to the dignity of Archbishop and was appointed as the Titular Archbishop of Thebes.

Archbishop Zaleski ended his mission in India in 1916. After returning to Rome he was nominated as the Patriarch of Antioch by Pope Benedict XV. Archbishop Zaleski was in Rome for the rest of his life, where he died on 5 October 1925.

In India, he was engaged in promoting the local hierarchy and clergy, he personally consecrated many local bishops, created new dioceses and apostolic vicariates. He sought to give a local character of the Church in India, while at the same time ensuring that the unity of the Church was not compromised. He was very open to meeting people belonging to other cultures and religions, always remembering what is most important in the priest's mission, namely the salvation of souls. He was a perpetual traveler, traveling constantly on his territories as well as outside. He also visited China, Japan, Indo-China, Java and the Philippines.

            Patriarch Zaleski's missionary vocation was particularly discovered and realized in India. Not only did he consider himself a missionary, but he emphasized the importance of mission at every step and specifically supported them. He also personally engaged in the preaching of the Gospel and baptized those who wished to become Christians. In his numerous publications he tried to mobilize the faithful to help the missions. Upon his return to Rome, his missionary nature was inactive. He even wanted to go to Africa for missions, and he asked the Holy Father for it, however, because of his age, his request was not taken into account. In his many missionary writings, he emphasized that the duty of evangelization is the very nature of the Church.

Bibliografia

  1. CZERMIŃSKI, M., Życiorys ks. Władysława Michała Zaleskiego, arcybiskupa tebańskiego, delegata apostolskiego dla Indyj Wschodnich, (Druk jako rękopis przeznaczony dla "Złotej ksiegi szlachty polskiej", wyd. przez Teodora Żychlińskiego w Poznaniu), Kraków 1902. [Google Scholar]
  2. JAGODZIŃSKI H. M., Historia i współczesność papieskiej dyplomacji, Studia Sandomierskie 15 (2008), z. 4, s. 75-94. [Google Scholar]
  3. KARPOWICZ L., Sylwetka Władysława Zaleskiego (1852-1925) na tle jego zainteresowań botanicznych, Kwartalnik Historii Nauki i Techniki 1969 (14/3), s. 513-518; [Google Scholar]
  4. - Władysław Michał Bonifacy Zaleski, w: Słownik biologów polskich, p. red. S. Feliksiaka, Warszawa 1987, s. 600. [Google Scholar]
  5. KARSKI K., Zaleski, Vladislaus. w: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL), Band 14, Bautz, Herzberg 1998, s. 335–336. [Google Scholar]
  6. KIERKELS, L. P. C.P., Golden Jubilee of the Apostolic Delegation of the East Indies (1884-1934) Retrospect and Prospects, Bangalore 1934. [Google Scholar]
  7. MALEJ W.,- Działalność prawna patriarchy Zaleskiego, w Prawo Kanoniczne 1964 (7/3-4), s. 168-183; [Google Scholar]
  8. - Ks. W. M. Zaleski, delegat apostolski Indii Wschodniej, arcybiskup Teb, patriarcha Antiochii, Roma 1965; [Google Scholar]
  9. - Patriarch Ladislas Zaleski – Apostolic Delegate of the East Indies, by the Rev. Dr. Witold Malej. Ed. Fr. Theodore A. Pereira, Bombay 1965. [Google Scholar]
  10. MĄCZEWSKA K., Flore Tropicale. Kolekcja ikonograficzna Władysława Michała Zaleskiego w Ogrodzie Botanicznym Wydziału Biologii Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego, w Muzealnictwo 2014 (55), s. 107-117. [Google Scholar]
  11. MIKLASZEWSKI A., Polacy w historii i kulturze krajów Europy Zachodniej. Słownik biograficzny, p. red. K. Kwaśniewskiego i L. Trzeciakowskiego, Poznań 1981, s. 473-474. [Google Scholar]
  12. PROKOP K. R., Polscy kardynałowie, Kraków 2001, s. 221. [Google Scholar]
  13. SŁABCZYŃSKI W., W. M. Zaleski w: Polscy podróżnicy i odkrywcy, Warszawa 1988, s. 156-157. [Google Scholar]
  14. ZALESKI W.M., O. Józef Vaz (1687-1711), Kraków 1896. [Google Scholar]
  15. ZALESKI W.M., Podróż po Indyach w roku 1896, Kraków 1897. [Google Scholar]
  16. ZALESKI W.M., Podróż po Indo-Chinach, Kraków 1898. [Google Scholar]
  17. ZALESKI W. M., Męczennicy w Indyach, Kraków 1898. [Google Scholar]

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.