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| Styles of Mieczysław Ledóchowski | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Poznań andGniezno |
Mieczysław Halka-Ledóchowski (IPA: /mʲɛˈtʂɨswaf ˈxalka lɛduˈxɔfski/; 29 October 1822 – 22 July 1902) was a Polish Roman Catholic cardinal-priest. He was born inGórki inRussian-controlledCongress Poland[1] to Count Josef Ledóchowski and Maria Zakrzewska. He was uncle toSaint Ursula Ledóchowska,the Blessed Maria Teresia (Theresa) Ledóchowska and FatherWłodzimierz Ledóchowski, General Superior of theSociety of Jesus.
Born 29 October 1822, he was named afterMieszko I, the first Christian prince of Poland.[2] After studying atRadom, at the age of nineteen, he entered the seminary atWarsaw run by the Missionaries of St. Vincent de Paul. He then studied at the Gregorian University in Rome and entered theJesuitAccademia dei Nobili Ecclesiastici to prepare to work in the diplomatic corps of the Holy See. Ledóchowski wasordainedpriest on 13 July 1845. He earned two doctorates, in theology and civil and canon law.[3]
Father Ledóchowski becamedomestic prelate ofPope Pius IX in 1846, and in 1847auditor of thepapal nunciature atLisbon. In 1857 he became papal delegate inBogotá for an area that encompassed present-dayColombia,Venezuela,Ecuador,Peru andBolivia. In 1861, he was namedtitular archbishop of Thebes and papalnuncio atBrussels.[3]
After returning to Poland in 1864, he was named coadjutor with right of succession to Primate Leon Przyłuski, and two years later, upon Przyłuski's death, despite the opposition of the Prussian authorities, he was appointedarchbishop of Gniezno andArchbishop of Poznań, (both cities then a part of thePrussianProvince of Posen).[1]
In 1873, the Prussian government began the implementation ofKulturkampf policies against theRoman Catholic Church andPolish culture, thePolish language in particular. In the aftermath, the Prussian government forbade the use ofPolish in instruction in the Province of Posen. Archbishop Ledóchowski urgently protested the order and ultimately issued a circular ordering the religion teachers at higher educational institutes to use theGerman language in their teachings to the higher classes but to preserve Polish in their teachings to the lower classes.[1]
The religious instructors obediently followed the archbishop's order and were subsequently deposed by the Prussian government. Ledóchowski's refusal to cede control of the seminaries of Gniezno and Poznan to the Prussian authorities eventually led to their closure.[3] After repeated fines for outlawed activity, the government demanded Ledóchowski's resignation. The archbishop responded that no temporal court could deprive him of an office granted to him by God, and he was jailed in theOstrów Wielkopolski prison in February 1874.[2]
In March 1875, the Pope appointed him as acardinal. Ledóchowski was released and banished and thereafter ruled hissee fromRome through secret emissaries. Towards the end of his life he began to have serious vision problems of cataracts. He resigned in 1885. In 1892 he became Prefect of theCongregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, an office which he held until his death,[2] on 22 July 1902.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Ott, Michael (1910). "Miecislas Halka Ledochowski". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
