On April 22-27, 2024, the Province of the Immaculate Mother of God in Poland (Warsaw) conducted the first part of its 25th Ordinary Provincial Chapter. The event took place in Niepokalanów, Poland.
Delegates from the friaries of the Province in Poland and abroad took part in the Chapter. Another twelve friars participated according to their official capacity, including the Minister General, Friar Carlos A. TROVARELLI and the Assistant General for the Foederatio Europae Mediae et Orientalis (FEMO), Friar Tomáš LESŇÁK. Also present was the Vicar General, Friar Jan MACIEJOWSKI, who gave a report on his General Canonical Visitation.
The first days of the Chapter were dedicated to reports. An important part of the Chapter discussions was the work done in groups to evaluate the last mandate and determine the priorities of the Province for the next four-year term.
Friar Piotr ŻURKIEWICZ was elected as the new Minister Provincial. He was born February 8, 1977, in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland. In 1996, he entered the Order after passing his high school examinations. After completing his novitiate year, he began philosophy and theology studies at the major seminary in Łódź Łagiewniki, Poland. In May of 2003, he was ordained to the priesthood and began pastoral ministry at the St. Mary of the Angels Parish in Łódź. In 2004, he undertook doctoral studies in dogmatic theology at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 2012, he became a formator for seminarians at the major seminary in Łódź. In June of 2013, he defended his doctoral thesis, entitled: Anthropology of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World “Gaudium et spes.” His defense was conducted at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University of Lublin (under the supervision of the Most Reverend Andrzej CZAJA, Bishop of Opole, Poland). Since June of 2013, he has served as a Provincial Definitor and a Provincial Secretary, in addition to teaching dogmatic theology at the major seminary in Łódź. In 2020, while maintaining the role of Definitor, he was appointed the Rector of the major seminary.
The members of the new Provincial Definitory are Friars Wiesław CHABROS (Vicar), Jan OLSZEWSKI (Secretary), Tomasz KRĘT (Econom), and Jacek CIUPIŃSKI, Sławomir FIŁONOWICZ, Piotr SZCZEPAŃSKI and Friar Karol ADAMCZEWSKI (Definitors).
The following were elected Delegates to the General Chapter: Friars Grzegorz BARTOSIK, Zbigniew KOPEĆ, Jacek CIUPIŃSKI and Wiesław PYZIO.
The second part of the Chapter will be conducted on May 20, 2024, again in Niepokalanów. At that time, the Capitulars will approve the Four-Year Provincial Plan and elect the Guardians and other friars who will provide various services in the Province.
Provincial Secretariat
