Poland: The first ordinary of the Olsztyn-Gdańsk eparchy

Bp Arkadiusz Trochanowski (2021), Autorstwa Wschkat - Praca własna, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=99472032

On Saturday, January 23, at the Greek Catholic cathedral in Olsztyn, Fr. Dr. Arkadiusz Trochanowski – will be consecrated the first ordinary of the Olsztyn-Gdańsk eparchy, created by Pope Francis on November 25, 2020.

The celebrations will begin on Friday, January 22, 2021 with the rite of “menuvannia” – the reading of the decree of nomination of the new bishop, his declaration of faith and an oath of allegiance.

Patriarch Sviatoslav, who will be the main consecrator of the new bishop, will preside over the Pontifical Divine Liturgy with the rite of ordination, which will start next Saturday at 10.00 am. The co-consecrators will be the Metropolitan of Przemyśl and Warsaw, Archbishop Eugeniusz Popowicz and the bishop of Wrocław-Koszalin Eparchy, Bishop Włodzimierz Juszczak OSBM.

Due to sanitary restrictions, only a small number of invited guests will take part in the ceremony. The Holy Mass along with the bishop’s chirotony will be broadcast by Telewizja Polska – regional channels: TVP3 Olsztyn, Gdańsk, Szczecin, Gorzów Wielkopolski, Rzeszów and Wrocław, as well as on the YouTube channel of the Greek Catholic parish in Olsztyn (Greek Catholic Parish of Pokrowa Mother of God in Olsztyn).

Fr. Arkadiusz Trochanowski was born on January 6, 1973 in Szprotawa. In the years 1994-2000 he was undergoing a philosophical and theological formation at the Major Seminary in Lublin. Incardinated to the Wrocław-Gdańsk eparchy of the Greek Catholic Church, in 2000, he obtained a master’s degree in theology at the Catholic University of Lublin. He was ordained a priest on July 29, 2000 in Wrocław by Bishop Włodzimierz R. Juszczak, bishop of the Wrocław-Gdańsk eparchy.

In 2000-2001, he worked as a vicar in Wrocław, Środa Śląska, Oława and Oleśnica and in 2001, he became the parish priest in Wałcz – office he holds until now – and, at the same time, the pastor of the parish in Szczecinek until 2016.

Thanks to his specialist studies at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław, in 2012 he obtained the title of doctor of theology in ecumenism at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Adam Mickiewicz in Poznań. In 2015, he obtained the title of a certified teacher.

In 2006, he became a member of the priestly council, and since 2010 he has been the proto-presbyter (dean) of Koszalin.

He knows Ukrainian, English and German.

The boundaries of the new eparchy coincide with the boundaries of the following metropolises of the Latin Church: Warmia, Gdańsk, Białystok and the Płock diocese from the Warsaw metropolis. Its seat will be Olsztyn, and the cathedral church will be the church of Pokrowa (Protection) of the Mother of God. The new eparchy will be incorporated into the Przemyśl-Warsaw metropolis of the Greek Catholic Church in Poland.

Until the eparchy is taken over by its first bishop, Arkadiusz Trochanowski, the duties of the administrator of the Olsztyn-Gdańsk eparchy will be performed by Archbishop of Przemyśl and Warsaw, Archbishop Eugeniusz Popowicz.

“This is a very important service for the people Pope Francis entrusted to me, which I will try to fulfill with God’s help, believing in the joint work of the entire eparchy, while counting on the cooperation of the clergy and the faithful” – said Bishop-nominee Arkadiusz Trochanowski in an interview for KAI (Catholic Agency of Information).