Published : 2017-12-10

Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic as the Cultural Foundation of the Biography and the Pastoral, Pedagogical and Social Mission of Fr. Henryk Nowik (XX–XXI)

Ryszard Małachowski



Abstract

The article concerns Rev. Dr Henryk Nowik, born in 1933 in the Polish family of religious and patriotic background. He was an acolyte at first, in 1951 admitted to the Seminary in Gorzow Wielkopolski, and in 1957 he was ordained a priest. In 1958 he started studying Philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin. In 1966 he received a PhD degree in Philosophy. Serving as a parish priest he led social and patriotic activity. In the domain of pastoral and educational work: sacerdotal and socio-political, as well as being a chaplain, he took part in social protests of Polish workers, was an adviser to small farmers, inspired the protection of unborn life and organised pastoral pilgrimages of agricultural workers. Rev. Dr Nowik is the “Aristocrat of the Spirit”, a morally sensitive man, scholar of asceticism, spirit of prayer and an academic with the extraordinary level of scientific knowledge (theologian, biologist, philosopher, educator). His hidden mystical personality is characterised by not frequently encountered outstanding intellectual and moral culture. He represents decades of great and genuine commitment to his “Homeland”, the Catholic Church, the man and the society. Despite the off ensive dictatorship of relativism in the twentieth and twenty-first century, he involved in the process of culture creation hundreds, if not thousands of Poles dedicated to Homeland and the Church, including academic youth. Therefore, in the opinion of the community of Lower Silesia he is a model priest similar to late Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, a great personality, confessor and priest-educator. He is a promoter of the historical ethos of ”Western Borderlands”, a patriot, and a continuator and co-founder of Polish national culture, and at the same he is an eminent social worker, worthy of emulation by lay people and clergy.

Keywords:

borderland educational biography, pastoral and educational mission, priest, social worker, patriot


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Małachowski, R. (2017). Eastern Borderlands of the Second Polish Republic as the Cultural Foundation of the Biography and the Pastoral, Pedagogical and Social Mission of Fr. Henryk Nowik (XX–XXI). Biografistyka Pedagogiczna, 2(1), 209–238. https://doi.org/10.36578/BP.2017.02.14

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"Biografistyka Pedagogiczna" received funding for the years 2022-2024 from the funds of the Minister of Education and Science under the programme „Rozwój Czasopism Naukowych”.

Project duration: 2023-2024.

The amount of co-financing is 65 992,00 PLN

Contract number: RCN/SP/0434/2021/1