On January 25, 2023, Friar Mateusz MICEK successfully defended his doctoral dissertation at the Cardinal Stefan WYSZYŃSKI University in Warsaw. Friar Mateusz is a member of the Province of St. Anthony and Bl. James of Strepar in Poland (Cracow).
His dissertation was entitled: “The Marian Dimension of Faith in the Theology of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Benedict XVI.” It was written under the supervision of the Most Reverend Andrzej DZIUBA, Bishop of Łowicz, Poland at the Kolbianum Institute in Niepokalanów, a branch of the Faculty of Theology at the Cardinal Stefan WYSZYŃSKI University. The supervisors greatly admired the doctoral dissertation.
Although the theological writings of Benedict XVI are very rich, only a few of them have been entirely dedicated to the Mother of God. Despite this, Friar Mateusz presented the main ideas and Mariological themes (Marian dimension of faith) found in the legacy left to us by Benedict XVI, who was undoubtedly a great theologian.
Friar Mateusz emphasized the multidimensionality of the figure of the Mother of God. In the three chapters of the dissertation, Mary is presented as an ideal example to follow as the Mother of believers, as a model of faith open to the mystery of the Trinity, and as a model of faith engaged in the work of salvation.
“For the faithful she is a model of faith, a model of immersion in the Word of God: in contemplating it, in meditating on it in her heart and in remaining faithful to it. She is also a sign of God’s presence, a woman of the Eucharist, a living tabernacle and a sign of hope for all the faithful, for the pilgrim people of God,” wrote Friar Mateusz, having carefully read the texts of the German theologian.
Friar Mateusz (42) was born in Katowice, Poland. He entered the Order in 1999. Friar Mateusz completed a year of postulancy, a year of novitiate and two years of philosophy studies at the major seminary in Cracow. He continued his formation in Germany. In 2007, he completed his five-year university studies (theology) at the Bayerische Julius-Maximilians-Universität in Würzburg, and was ordained a priest a year later. In 2017, he completed his four-year, part-time doctoral studies at the Theological Faculty of the University of Warsaw (degree in theology.) He is currently the Guardian at the friary in Blieskastel, Germany and is a lecturer in the Mariology course at the Kolbianum in Niepokalanów.
Friar Jan M. SZEWEK
