Henryk Hoser

His Excellency Henryk Hoser SAC
Archbishop-Bishop of Warszawa-Praga Archbishop ad personam
Henryk Hoser in 2009.
Archdiocese	Warszawa-Praga
See	Warszawa-Praga
Appointed	24 May 2008
Installed	28 June 2008
Term ended	8 December 2017
Predecessor	Sławoj Leszek Głódź
Successor	Romuald Kamiński
Other post(s)	Apostolic Visitor to Medjugorje (2017-21)
Previous post(s)	Titular Archbishop of Tepelta (2005-08) President of the Pontifical Mission Societies (2005-08) Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (2005-08)
Orders
Ordination	16 June 1974 by Bishop Wladyslaw Miziolek
Consecration	19 March 2005 by Crescenzio Sepe
Personal details
Born	27 November 1942 Warsaw, General Government, Germany (now Poland)
Died	13 August 2021(2021-08-13) (aged 78) Centralny Szpital Kliniczny MSWiA, Warsaw, Poland
Nationality	Polish
Motto	Maior est Deus ("God is greater")
Coat of arms

Ordination history of Henryk Hoser
History Priestly ordination Ordained by Bishop Wladyslaw Miziolek Date 16 June 1974 Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Crescenzio Sepe Co-consecrators Stanisław Dziwisz, Archbishop Thaddée Ntihinyurwa Date 19 March 2005
Episcopal succession Bishops consecrated by Henryk Hoser as principal consecrator Bishop Marek Solarczyk 19 November 2011 George Antonysamy 21 September 2005 [Michael August Blume]] 30 September 2005 Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, S.A.C. 10 June 2017

Styles of Henryk Hoser
Reference style	The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Monsignor

Henryk Franciszek Hoser (27 November 1942 – 13 August 2021) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He was Archbishop-bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Warszawa-Praga in Poland from 2008 to 2017.

Biography

Hoser was trained as a physician before joining the Pallottines in 1969.

He was president of the Pontifical Mission Societies before he was elevated to the title of archbishop ad personam in 2005 by Pope John Paul II. On 24 May 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to head Roman Catholic Diocese of Warszawa-Praga. He was a member of the Presidium of the Polish Episcopal Conference and headed the Team of Experts on Bioethics. Bishop Hoser was a staunch opponent of in vitro fertilisation.

Hoser was intensely criticised in 2013, when he refused to remove a priest from active duty who was convicted of molesting two altar boys. On the other hand, Hoser removed a priest Wojciech Lemanski, who used his pulpit to criticize the church. Lemanski’s criticisms centered around anti-Semitic tendencies in Poland; the church’s lenient treatment of clerics accused of sexual abuse; the church’s opposition to artificial insemination and contraceptives.

On 11 February 2017, Pope Francis named Bishop Hoser his special envoy to Medjugorje, tasked with assessing the pastoral needs of that place of pilgrimage.

Hoser delivered Pope Francis his examination of the pastoral situation of Medjugorje in the summer of 2017. He was tasked by the pope with assessing the pastoral situation and not the doctrinal situation which was done by Cardinal Ruini. However he made it clear that he thought very highly of the Medjugorje phenomenon. After his resignation as archbishop of the diocese of Warszawa-Praga was accepted on 8 December 2017, he was made Apostolic Visitor for an undetermined time for Medjugorje by Pope Francis on 31 May 2018.

Hoser died from COVID-19 on 13 August 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland.

References

News articles

• Cienski, Jan (2013). "Polish Catholic Church rocked by sex abuse scandal". The Financial Times. London. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
• Puhl, Jan (2013). "Rebel Priest: Church's 'No. 1 Enemy' A Symbol of Polish Change". ABC News. New York City. Retrieved 23 August 2021.