Funeral ceremonies of Archbishop Hoser, Apostolic Visitator to Medjugorje

Archbishop Hoser, Apostolic Visitator to Medjugorje (2013), photo: Autorstwa This photo was taken by Przemysław JahrAutorem zdjęcia jest Przemysław JahrWykorzystując zdjęcie proszę podać jako autora:Przemysław Jahr / Wikimedia Commons - Praca własna, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27118197

Archbishop Henryk Hoser, a Pallottine priest, former Ordinary of Warsaw-Praga (2008-2017) and then Apostolic Visitor with special responsibility for the parishes of Medjugorje (2018-2021), died on Friday, 13 August 2021, in Warsaw, after a long and serious illness. He was 78. Funeral ceremonies of Archbishop Henryk Hoser will be held on 19-20 August in the seminary church in Ołtarzew and in the cathedral basilica of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Florian the Martyr in Warsaw.

In an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP), Msgr. Stanislaw Gądecki, President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference and Metropolitan Archbishop of Poznan, spoke about Msgr. Hoser’s death: “Archbishop Henryk Hoser contributed much good to the life of the universal Church and the Catholic Church in Poland. Despite various attacks and attempts to discredit him, he never lost his serenity, always remaining a very kind man to everyone and concerned about the missions.”

“The departure of Archbishop Henryk Hoser to the House of the Father is a great loss for Poland and the Church. We will miss this wise priest gifted with great knowledge and spiritual strength. May the Lord grant him eternal rest! RIP,” the Poland’s President Andrzej Duda wrote on Twitter.

The current ordinary of the Diocese of Warsaw-Praga, Bishop Romuald Kaminski, said in an interview with PAP that Archbishop Hoser will remain in his memory “as someone with a beautiful spiritual profile.”

“Archbishop Hoser’s death is a great loss for the Polish Church. He was really a very special man. He knew not only diseases of the body but also diseases of the soul, he knew how to talk to people, he was open, he knew how to listen,” said Father Leszek Gęsiak, SJ, spokesman for the Polish Episcopate, to PAP.

Funeral ceremonies of Archbishop Henryk Hoser will be held on 19-20 August in the seminary church in Ołtarzew and in the cathedral basilica of St. Michael the Archangel and St. Florian the Martyr in Warsaw.

Archbishop Henryk Franciszek Hoser SAC was born in Warsaw on 27 November 1942. In 1966 he obtained a diploma in medicine. In 1969 he entered the Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers). On 8 September 1970 he made his first profession and on 16 June 1974 he was ordained a priest.

From 1975 to 1996 he worked as a missionary in Rwanda, and from 1996 to 2003 he served as Superior of the Region of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate in France. He was also elected a member of the Missionary Council of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors in France.

On 22 January 2005 Pope John Paul II appointed him archbishop, Auxiliary Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Missionary Works.

He received the episcopal ordination on 19 March 2005 from Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe. As his episcopal motto he adopted the motto: Maior est Deus (God is greater).

Archbishop Henryk Hoser was the first Polish Pallottine Father to be raised to the dignity of archbishop. The Presidents of Poland and Portugal decorated him.

In 2017, Pope Francis sent him to Medjugorje as a special envoy of the Holy See and entrusted him with the on-site discernment of the pastoral situation, the organization of conditions for arriving pilgrims, and the pastoral initiatives addressed to them; the following year, 2018 (May 31^st), the Holy Father appointed him Apostolic Visitor with special responsibility for the parish of Medjugorje (he inaugurated his ministry on July 22^nd).

Years ago, in an interview, Pope Francis described Archbishop Hoser as “un bravo vescovo” (a good and able bishop).