Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz (bishop)
Archbishop Monsignor Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz[1] (Belarusian: Тадэвуш Кандрусевіч, b. January 3, 1946, Odelsk, Hrodna Raion, Belarus) is the Belarusian Roman Catholic Archbishop of Minsk and Mahilyow, Belarus.
His Excellency Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz | |
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| Archbishop of Minsk and Mahilyow | |
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| Native name | Тадэвуш Кандрусевіч |
| Church | Catholic Church |
| Archdiocese | Latin Archdiocese of Minsk and Mahilyow |
| Diocese | Latin Diocese of Pinsk |
| See | Latin Archdiocese of Minsk and Mahilyow |
| In office | September 21, 2007—present |
| Predecessor | Cardinal Kazimierz Świątek |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | May 31, 1981 by Liudas Povilonis |
| Consecration | October 20, 1989 by Pope John Paul II |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 3, 1946 Odelsk, Hrodna Region, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Previous post | Archbishop of Mother of God in Moscow |
| Coat of arms |  |
Early life and education
Born as Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz to an ethnic Polish family,[2] he was the elder of the two children of Ignacy Kondrusiewicz (1906–1985) and his wife Anna (née Szusta; 1911–1999). His sister was the late Maria Kondrusiewicz Buro (1949–1997). In 1962, after completing his secondary schooling, he entered the Department of Physics and Mathematics at the Hrodna Pedagogical Institute (teachers' training college), which he had to leave a year later because of his practice of Catholicism.
In 1964, he entered the Department of Energetics and Machinery Construction at the Leningrad Polytechnical Institute (now known as the Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University). He graduated in 1970, becoming a mechanical engineer. He worked in Vilnius, Lithuania (then part of the USSR).
Ordination
In 1976, aged 30, he entered Kaunas Priest Seminary and was ordained priest on May 31, 1981. He served as (assistant) curate in a number of parishes in Lithuania. On February 13, 1988, he was appointed parish priest of the parishes of Our Lady of Angels and St. Francis Xavier in Hrodna, Belarus.
In 1989, Pope John Paul II appointed him Apostolic Administrator of Minsk, Belarus and Titular Bishop of Hippo Diarrhytus. On October 20, he was consecrated bishop by the Pope at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, with Cardinals Edward Idris Cassidy and Francesco Colasuonno as co-consecrators.
During his service as a bishop he has founded the Senior Hrodna Seminary, managed to return and reopening of about 100 churches in Belarus. He initiated translation and publication of Catholic religious literature in the Belarusian language.
On April 13, 1991, two Apostolic Administrations were erected in Russian Federation: that of Russia Europea (European part of Russia) and of Siberia, Msgr. Kondrusiewicz being appointed to head the former and Msgr. Joseph Werth SJ to the latter. Moscow, the Russian capital, was chosen as the cathedral city for European Russia.
In 1999, this Apostolic Administration was divided in two (Russia Europea Settentrionale in the north and Russia Europea Meridionale in the south, with Saratov as its cathedral city), Msgr. Kondrusiewicz remaining in Moscow. Finally, on February 11, 2002, the Pope elevated the four Apostolic Administrations of Russia to Dioceses united in an ecclesiastical province. The Apostolic Administration of Moscow now became the Metropolitan Archdiocese of the Mother of God in Moscow, and Msgr. Kondrusiewicz was named Archbishop and Metropolitan.
Between 1999 and 2005, Msgr. Kondrusiewicz spent two three-year terms as chairman of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Russia, being then succeeded by Msgr. Joseph Werth. From 1994 to 1999, he was a member of the Pontifical Congregation for the Oriental Churches, and since 1996 of the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care (see Roman Curia).
Msgr. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz is seen by many as a moderate conservative, being hostile towards the traditionalist movement and the restoration of the Tridentine Mass, but at the same time disallowing or discouraging many of the excesses of theological and liturgical liberalism in his diocese. Without any doubt, he has been instrumental in the reestablishment of the Roman Catholic Church in Russia after the collapse of the Communist regime.
On September 21, 2007, Msgr. Kondrusiewicz was appointed Metropolitan Archbishop of Minsk-Mahilyow by Pope Benedict XVI. He was succeeded in the Archdiocese of Mother of God at Moscow by Italian-born Fr. Paolo Pezzi, FSCB, until then rector of the major seminary of "Mary Queen of the Apostles" in Saint Petersburg.[3]
On June 30, 2011, Kazimierz Świątek retired from his position as Apostolic Administrator of Pinsk, and Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz replaced him.
During mass on November 1, 2017, Kandrusievič called the 1917 October Revolution in Russia an “existential disaster,” which brought immense suffering to Belarus. He noted that Belarus still celebrates the revolution date as a public holiday, while the Catholic population do not have official day-offs on All Saints Day and Memorial Day to perform their rites.[4]
Awards
He was awarded the Medal "In Commemoration of the 300th Anniversary of Saint Petersburg".
References
- Biography
- Kondrusiewicz is Polish
- Cf. Sala Stampa della Santa Sede, Bollettino quotidiano del: 21.09.2007, Rinunce e nomine, Nomina dell’Arcivescovo Metropolita dell’Arcidiocesi “della Madre di Dio” a Mosca (Federazione Russa) Archived 2009-06-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Italian)
- How geopolitics increases the heft of the Roman Catholic Church in Belarus. 10 November 2017. BelarusDigest. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
External links
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