In office 1909–1935 Buried unknown | Birth name Jan Kowalski Consecration 5 October 1909 | |
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Church Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites Denomination Roman Catholic (1871–1906)Mariavite (1906–1942) Successor | ||
Jan Maria Michał Kowalski (25 December 1871 – 18 May 1942) was a Polish priest, the first Minister General of the order of the Mariavites.
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Early life
He came from a farming family in Latowicz, the son of John and Catherine Sitek Kowalski. He studied at the Warsaw seminary and was ordained a Roman Catholic priest on April 24, 1897 by Auxiliary Bishop of Mogilev, Francis Symon. Kowalski served in parishes in Lodz, Niesułków and Stara Sobotka. In 1900, he became a vicar at the Church of the Capuchins in Warsaw.
Mariavite
After a former seminary colleague introduced him to the Mariavite movement, he became a close collaborator of the foundress Feliksa Kozłowska.
At the time of his selection, he was the most important person in the Christian movement. He was consecrated bishop in 1909 by the Union of Utrecht of the Old Catholic Churches Gerardus Gul, archbishop of the Old Catholic Archdiocese of Utrecht. In 1919, the Mariavites officially changed their name to the Old Catholic Church of the Mariavites. Kowalski later called himself an archbishop.
Death
Kowalski was killed, at 70, during World War II at the Nazi Hartheim Euthanasia Centre in Alkoven, Anschluss Austria. He was one of the victims of the Nazi war criminal Karl Brandt, who led the euthanasia Action 14f13.
Successors
Kowalski was deposed on 29 January 1935 by the General Chapter of the Old Catholic Mariavite Church in Płock; his successor in the Old Catholic Mariavite Church was Maria Filip Feldman.
When Kowalski was deposed, a faction of his followers separated from the Old Catholic Mariavite Church and became the Catholic Mariavite Church in Felicjanów. His successor in the Catholic Mariavite Church was his wife, Archpriestess Maria Izabela Wiłucka-Kowalska.