Zagadnienie nominacji biskupów polowych Wojska Polskiego w okresie międzywojennym
The issue of appointing field bishops of the Polish Army in the interwar period

Summary/Abstract: With the regaining of independence in 1918 and with the establishment of the Second Polish Republic, there was a process of gradual unification of the Polish armed forces, which entailed the need to efficiently organize military pastoral work in the new social and political realities. For this reason – two days before the official gaining of independence – the then head of the Ministry of Military Affairs, Col. J. Wroczyński, in consultation with archbishop A. Kakowski, established the institution of the Polish Army Field Consistory, approved on December 7, 1918, which was to temporarily take care of for the spiritual needs of the fighting army and to solicit the competent Church authorities for the appointment of priests to the positions of military chaplains. At the same time, the Polish authorities made efforts to appoint a Field Bishop of the Polish Army, who was ultimately the former suffragan of Warsaw, Bishop S. Gall. The appointment of the Field Bishop was an extremely important and necessary decision in the context of ensuring the efficient functioning of the military ministry in the army of the reborn state. The next decisions were made by the Field Bishop, who faced many difficulties resulting from both the political situation and the shortages of personnel in the corps of chaplains. The aim of the presented article is to present the context and circumstances related to the appointment of bishop S. Gall and priest J. Gawlina to the honorable function of the bishop of the Polish Army. The process of selecting candidates and the appointment of this position confirm the thesis that the way military pastoral work functions in the state is a kind of “litmus test” in defining the relationship between the State and the Church.

• Details
• Contents