Name Michael Kaniecki | ||
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Died August 6, 2000, Emmonak, Alaska, United States | ||
Michael Joseph Kaniecki, SJ (April 13, 1935 – August 6, 2000) was a 20th-century bishop in the Catholic Church in the United States. He served as Bishop of the Diocese of Fairbanks from 1985–2000.
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Kaniecki had professed religious vows as a Jesuit, and was ordained a Catholic priest on June 5, 1965. On March 8, 1984 Pope John Paul II named him to be the Coadjutor Bishop of Fairbanks. He was consecrated on May 1, 1984 by Bishop Robert Louis Whelan, SJ of Fairbanks. The co-consecrators were Archbishop Francis Thomas Hurley of Anchorage and Bishop Michael Hughes Kenny of Juneau. He succeeded to the See of Fairbanks on June 1, 1985 when Bishop Whelan resigned as the diocesan bishop, and was installed on July 28, 1985. He served the diocese for a total of 16 years. He died suddenly on August 6, 2000 of a massive heart attack before celebrating a Mass in the Eskimo village of Emmonak, Alaska.