Today in the evening at the age of 78, Archbishop Henryk Hoser SAC, Senior Archbishop of the Warsaw-Praga Diocese, died. [SD note: these are initial unedited reports; he had recently been admitted to a hospital for the third time, suffering from covid]
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Archbishop Henryk Hoser was a Polish Roman Catholic priest, Pallottine, doctor, missionary, apostolic visitator in Rwanda in 1994–1996, archbishop ad personam from 2005, auxiliary secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Nations and head of the Pontifical Missionary Works in 2005–2008, diocesan bishop in the years 2008–2017, senior archbishop of the Warsaw-Praga diocese from 2017, apostolic visitator in Medjugorje from 2018.
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Archbishop Henryk Hoser SAC was born on November 27, 1942 in Warsaw, the son of Janusz and Halina née Zabłońska. In 1944, the family temporarily moved to Pruszków, where Fr. Henryk graduated from primary school. Then he graduated from the Lyceum. Tomasz Zan in Pruszków. He started studies at the Medical Academy, obtaining a diploma in medicine in 1966. After graduation, he was appointed an assistant at the Medical Academy.
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In 1968 he joined the Association of the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers), making his first religious profession on September 8, 1970. In the Major Seminary in Ołtarzew, as an alumnus, he was a co-founder of the Missionary Group, which has existed continuously to this day. In the years 1969-1974 he studied philosophy and theology at the Higher Seminary of the Society of Catholic Apostolate in Ołtarzew. On June 16, 1974, he was ordained a priest by Fr. Bishop Władysław Miziołek.
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Wishing to go on a mission to Rwanda, he went to Paris, where he attended a course in Rwandan language and tropical medicine for another year. In the years 1975-1996 he worked as a missionary in Rwanda, performing various functions and positions: pastor, pastor, animator of family pastoral ministry, organizer of many lay apostolate formation sessions, promoter of the apostolate of the printed word. In 1978, he founded the Medical and Social Center in Kigali (Rwanda), which he headed for 17 years, and the Family Formation Center (Action Familiale). For several years he also served as the Secretary of the Episcopal Commission for Healthcare, and then the Episcopal Commission for the Family.
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He was also elected President of the Association of Associated Medical Centers in Kigali (BUFMAR) for several years,Head of the AIDS Epidemic Monitoring Center and the psycho-medical and social care program for AIDS patients.
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As a Pallottine, for several years he was the Delegate Provincial of the Polish Province of the Pallottine Fathers, and then for 10 years as the Regional Superior of the Society of Catholic Apostolate, as well as the Superior of the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious Institutes and Societies of Consecrated Life in Rwanda (COSUMA).
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In 1994, he was appointed as an expert on family and development to the Special Synod of Bishops for Africa. After the civil war in Rwanda in 1994, during the absence of the Apostolic Nuncio, the Holy See appointed him Apostolic Visitor to Rwanda. Having the rights of the Nuncio, Fr. Henryk Hoser visited dioceses, appointed apostolic administrators for vacant dioceses, and helped bishops and priests organize their pastoral work anew.
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Fr. Hoser held his position for 2 years (until 1996), until the appointment of a new Apostolic Nuncio in Rwanda (Archbishop Juliusz Janusz), who took over all the tasks of the representative of the Holy See. Fr. Hoser remained for a few more months in the Nunciature as an advisor and associate of the Nuncio. After completing the Visitor’s mission, Fr. Hoser left Rwanda.
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In 1996-2003 he was the Regional Superior of the Association of Catholic Apostolate in France. He was also elected a member of the Missionary Council of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors in France. At that time, on behalf of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Nations, he made several apostolic visits to the Major Seminaries in the mission areas.
He is a co-founder and secretary of the African Family Action Federation (Action Familiale) established in 2001.
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In 2004, he was appointed Rector of the Pallottine Mission Office in Brussels, Belgium, also taking up pastoral work in the European Community.
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On January 22, 2005, the Holy Father John Paul II appointed him Archbishop and Auxiliary Secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Nations and President of the Pontifical Missionary Works.
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He was consecrated on March 19, 2005 by Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe (co-presenter: Archbishop Stanisław Dziwisz and Archbishop Thaddée Ntihinyurwa).
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Fr. Henryk Hoser is the first Polish Pallottine who was raised to the dignity of an archbishop.
On May 24, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Fr. Archbishop. Hoser the Bishop of Warsaw-Prague. He took over the diocese on June 28, 2008.
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In the Episcopate, he is the chairman of the Team of Experts on Bioethics of the Polish Episcopate, he is also a member of the Pastoral Commission and the Council for the Family of the Polish Episcopate.
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Since July 4, 2009 he has been a consultor of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Nations. In the same year, Benedict XVI appointed Archbishop as a participant in the special assembly of the Second Synod for Africa.
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In 2017, Pope Francis commissioned him to go to Medjugorje as a special envoy of the Holy See in order to recognize the pastoral situation and the needs of pilgrims, as well as to indicate possible pastoral initiatives to be undertaken in the future. On May 31, 2018, he was appointed by Pope Francis a special apostolic visitator for the parish in Medjugorje. On July 22, 2018, he inaugurated his service in Medjugorje with a solemn Eucharist.
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His episcopal call is: Maior est Deus (“God is greater”)