Aloysius John Wycisło
Aloysius John Wycisło | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Green Bay | |
| Diocese | Green Bay |
| Appointed | March 8, 1968 |
| Installed | May 10, 1983 |
| Predecessor | Stanislaus Bona |
| Successor | Adam Maida |
| Other post(s) |
|
| Orders | |
| Ordination | April 4, 1934 |
| Consecration | December 21, 1960 |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Alojzy Jan Wycisło |
| Born | June 17, 1908 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | October 11, 2005 (aged 97) |
| Alma mater |
|
| Motto | Caritati instate |
Aloysius John Wycisło (June 17, 1908 – October 11, 2005) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the eighth bishop of the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, from 1968 to 1983. Previously he was an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Chicago in Illinois.
Biography[]
Early life and education[]
Wycisło was born in 1908 to Simon and Victoria Czech Wycisło in Chicago, Illinois. He attended St. Mary of Czestochowa School in Cicero, Illinois; Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary (high school) in Chicago; Mundelein Seminary at the St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois; and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., where he earned a master's degree in social work.
Ordination and ministry[]
He was ordained on April 7, 1934, by Cardinal George Mundelein at the University of St. Mary of the Lake. During WWII and into the 1950s, he served in , established refugee camps in the Middle East, India, and Africa, and later worked coordinating aid throughout Eastern and Western Europe at the request of the .[1] He was among the first American priests to enter Poland after the Second World War[2] and he reported that the postwar Polish government had forbidden mentioning the pope in the press and in Polish churches.[3]
Auxiliary Bishop of Chicago[]
Wycisło was consecrated a bishop on December 21, 1960, and served as auxiliary bishop to Cardinal Albert Gregory Meyer of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
In September 1962, Cardinal Albert Meyer of the Archdiocese of Chicago asked Bishop Wycisło to direct the Chicagoland observance of Poland’s millennium of Christianity. Bishop Wycisło handled all the preparations including arrangements for the presence of the Primate of Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, who served Poland during the Communist occupation period and was imprisoned from 1953 to 1956 for his religious position within the church.[4]
Second Vatican Council (1962-1965)[]
Bishop Wycisło was a Council Father from the first session of the Second Vatican Council, which opened Oct. 11, 1962, to the concluding liturgy for the entire Council, Dec. 8, 1965.
In addition to attending all the sessions, he served as a member of the American Bishops’ Commissions on the Lay Apostolate and on the Missions and the Oriental Church. He met and became friends with Karol Wojtyła, then-Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, and who became Pope John Paul II.[5]
Bishop of Green Bay[]
He was appointed Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Green Bay (Green Bay, Wisconsin) on March 8, 1968, by Pope Paul VI. Bishop Wycislo was officially installed to this Diocese on April 16, 1968.[6] His episcopal motto was Caritati Instate (Be Steadfast in Charity).
Wycisło retired on June 17, 1983, his 75th birthday, when he submitted his letter of resignation to the Holy See. He remained active during his retirement by performing confirmations.
On his death in 2005 at the age of 97, he was the oldest living Roman Catholic bishop in the United States, and also was one of the few living Fathers of the Second Vatican Council.
Author[]
Bishop Wycisło was an author as well, he wrote Vatican Two Revisited; Reflections by One who was there , The Saint Peter, along with many other titles.
See also[]
- Catholic Church hierarchy
- Catholic Church in the United States
- Historical list of the Catholic bishops of the United States
- List of Catholic bishops of the United States
- Lists of patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops
References[]
- ^ [1] Steven M. Avella, This Confident Church: Catholic Leadership and Life in Chicago, 1940–1965, Notre Dame, 1992, pg. 57
- ^ "Boro Priest Advocates Aid for German Needy". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. January 8, 1946. p. 4. Retrieved March 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Says Pope's Name Is Banned in Poland". Ironwood Daily Globe. January 7, 1946. p. 1. Retrieved March 24, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Wiśniewski, Charles E. (1968). "Religious Millennial Observances". Polish American Studies. 25: 20–23 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Schommer, Msgr. Mark (April 29, 2021). "Bishop Aloysius Wycislo: A Man for All Seasons". Salesiamum. Spring/Summer 1986: 5–8 – via Diocese of Green Bay.
- ^ A History of the Diocese of Green Bay Archived July 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
External links[]
| show Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago |
|---|
| show Authority control  |
|---|
- 1908 births
- 2005 deaths
- 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the United States
- American people of Polish descent
- Participants in the Second Vatican Council
- Clergy from Chicago
- Religious leaders from Illinois
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago
- Roman Catholic bishops of Green Bay
- Catholic University of America alumni
- University of Saint Mary of the Lake alumni
- Writers from Chicago
- Writers from Green Bay, Wisconsin
- Catholics from Illinois