Adam Stefan Cardinal Sapieha

His Eminence, Prince Adam Stefan Stanis?aw Bonfatiusz Józef Cardinal Sapieha (May 14, 1867 - July 23, 1951) was a Polish Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church and what some might call, mentor of Pope John Paul II.

Related Topics:
May 14 - 1867 - July 23 - 1951 - Polish - Archbishop - Roman Catholic Church - Pope John Paul II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sapieha was born in May of 1867 in the castle of Krasiczyn to a family of nobles. He was the youngest of the seven children of Adam Stanislaw Count Sapieha-Kodenski and Princess Jadwiga Klementyna Sanguszko-Lubartowicza.

Related Topics:
1867 - Krasiczyn - Adam Stanislaw Count Sapieha-Kodenski - Princess Jadwiga Klementyna Sanguszko-Lubartowicza

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He was educated at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he was also ordained a priest on October 1, 1893 by then Bishop of Kraków, Jan Cardinal Puzyna de Kosielsko. Father Sapieha did pastoral work in the diocese of Lemberg, whose seminary he served as a faculty member for four years until becoming its rector.

Related Topics:
Pontifical Gregorian University - Rome - Priest - October 1 - 1893 - Bishop of Kraków

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Appointed bishop of the diocese of Kraków on November 24, 1911, he was consecrated by Pope Pius X on December 17 of the same year. When Sapieha's diocese was elevated to the jurisdiction of an archdiocese in 1925, he became the first Archbishop of Kraków in its nine hundred-year history. He was awarded in 1936 with the White Eagle Order.

Related Topics:
Kraków - November 24 - 1911 - Pope Pius X - Archdiocese - 1925 - Archbishop of Kraków - 1936 - White Eagle Order

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Arcbishop Sapieha, in August 1944, was forced to operate the seminary in secret due the Nazi invasion of Kraków; he moved his seminarians (including the future Pope John Paul II, Karol Wojty?a) into his episcopal residence to finish their training. He was created a Cardinal Priest, of the title of S. Maria Nuova, on February 18, 1946, the same year in which he ordained Karol Wojty?a, to the Catholic priesthood in the chapel of his episcopal residence. Sapieha knew Wojty?a was destined to become a priest when the future Pontiff, then a young boy, delivered a welcoming speech to the Archbishop on a visit to his school.

Related Topics:
Seminary - Nazi - Kraków - Pope John Paul II - Cardinal Priest - S. Maria Nuova - February 18 - 1946 - Catholic

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He died on July 23, 1951, at the age of 84. Cardinal Sapieha is buried in the castle of Wawel (in Kraków).

Related Topics:
July 23 - 1951 - Wawel

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~