Józef Teodorowicz
Encyclopedia
Armenian Catholic Church
|- |The Armenian Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church sui juris in union with the other Eastern Rite, Oriental Rite and Latin Rite Catholics who accept the Bishop of Rome as spiritual leader of the Church. It is regulated by Eastern canon law...
Archbishop of Lviv. Most of his family were of Armenian
Armenians
Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....
origin and had lived centuries in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Teodorowicz finished a grammar school in Stanislaviv then studied with the faculty of law at Chernivtsi University
Chernivtsi University
The Chernivtsi National University is the leading Ukrainian institution for higher education in northern Bukovina, in Chernivtsi, a city in southwest Ukraine....
in Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
. During his studies he suffered a crisis of belief
Crisis of faith
Crisis of faith is a term commonly applied to periods of intense doubt and internal conflict about one's preconceived beliefs or life decisions...
. A year lated enrolled in a seminary
Seminary
A seminary, theological college, or divinity school is an institution of secondary or post-secondary education for educating students in theology, generally to prepare them for ordination as clergy or for other ministry...
in Lviv
Lviv
Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...
. In 1887 he became a priest and, after the death of Izaak Mikołaj Isakowicz, in 1901 was named the Armenian Archbishop of Lviv. He is widely respected among Poles for his religious and social work.
Józef Teodorowicz died in Lviv where he was buried at the Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów
Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów
The Cemetery of the Defenders of Lwów is a memorial and a burial place for the Poles and their allies who died in Lviv during the hostilities of the Polish-Ukrainian War and Polish-Soviet War between 1918 and 1920....
. When the city was occupied by Soviets during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
his remains were transferred to a family cemetery to save them from profanation, there they remain today. The first Soviet occupation of 1939-41 prevented the nomination of a successor and during the subsequent occupations and destructive policies of Nazi Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union the city's seven centuries old Armenian community was completely destroyed.
External links
- Arcybiskup ormiański Józef Teofil Teodorowicz — An article by Tadeusz Isakowicz-ZaleskiTadeusz Isakowicz-ZaleskiTadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski is a Polish Roman Catholic and Armenian Catholic priest, author and activist...
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