Fr. Leopold Moczygemba, OFM Conv

Conventual Franciscans

The Order of Friars Minor Conventual , commonly known as the Conventual Franciscans, is a branch of the order of Catholic Friars founded by Francis of Assisi in 1209.-History:...

 (October 18, 1824-February 23, 1891) - founder of the first Polish-American parish in Panna Maria

Panna Maria, Texas

Panna Maria is a small unincorporated community in Karnes County, Texas, United States. It is the oldest Polish settlement in the United States. A Franciscan missionary, Father Leopold Moczygemba, started recruiting Upper Silesians in 1852, when Silesia was part of the Kingdom of Prussia. The...

 and Bandera, Texas

Bandera, Texas

Bandera is the county seat of Bandera County, Texas, United States,in the Texas Hill Country, which is part of the Edwards Plateau. The population was 957 at the 2000 census, and according to a 2009 estimate, the population had jumped up to 1,216 people...

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Born October 18, 1824 in Płużnica Wielka Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia

Upper Silesia is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of...

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Papal envoy to the United States and founder of the Polish SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary

SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary

SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary is a four-year private Polish seminary in Orchard Lake, Michigan. The seminary, taking its name from Saints Cyril and Methodius, was founded in 1885 in Detroit, Michigan, to prepare candidates for the Roman Catholic priesthood primarily to serve Polish American...

 in Detroit.

During his career he also ministered to the ethnic Polish populations of the north-central United States.