Tadeusz Styczeń
Tadeusz Styczeń SDS (born December 21, 1931 in Wołowice near Krakow ; † October 14, 2010 in Trzebnica , German Trebnitz) was a Polish, Roman Catholic theologian. As professor of ethics at the Catholic University of Lublin (KUL), he was co-author of the draft of the papal moral encyclical Veritatis Splendor ( Shine of Truth ). Styczeń was a student and close confidante of Pope John Paul II.
Life and academic background
From 1944 he attended the secret Salvatorian high school in Krakow. In 1947 he joined the Salvatorian Order. He spent the novitiate in Bagno (Ger. Heinzendorf) near Breslau. On September 8, 1948, he took the first religious vows. He was ordained a priest on April 5, 1955 in Cracow from the hands of Bishop Franciszek Jop . He studied first at the Theological Faculty of the Jagiellonian University in Cracow, and after the dissolution of this faculty in 1955 at the Philosophical Department of the Catholic University of Lublin. Under the direction of Karol Woytiła , he defended his master's thesis, his doctoral thesis (1963) and his habilitation thesis (1971) in the subject of ethics. In 1981 he received the title of associate professor at the KUL.
He was first assistant and then adjunct (senior scientific assistant) at the chair for ethics at the KUL. Due to the constant absence of Karol Wojtyła, who was hindered by his duties as Archbishop of Kraków, he effectively took over the chairmanship. After Wojtyła was elected Pope in 1978, he also formally took over the chair of ethics. He received the title of professor of philosophy. In 1982 he was one of the founders of the John Paul II Institute at the KUL, which primarily deals with questions of papal moral teaching. Until November 30, 2006 he was director of this institute. He then served as its honorary director until his death. He was also the editor-in-chief of the institute 's monthly Ethos, which had been published since 1988 . In his scientific work, Styczeń mainly dealt with questions of ethics, metaethics and human dignity. In 1993 he was one of the co-authors of the papal moral encyclical Veritatis Splendor published on August 6, 1993 . In addition, he published Karol Wojtyła's moral-philosophical work under the title Metaphysics of the Person in Italian.
Styczeń was one of Pope John Paul II's closest confidants. He was one of those who stood on the Pope's deathbed on April 2, 2005. He was a consultant to the Pontifical Family Council and a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life .
Awards
- 1994 Honorary Doctorate from the University of Navarra
- 2006 Order of Polonia Restituta
- 2007 Medal of Merit from the Catholic University of Lublin
- 2007 Honorary Doctorate from the Lateran University in Rome
- 2008 Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st class
Web links
- Literature by and about Tadeusz Styczeń in the catalog of the German National Library
- Obituary on the catholic news portal kath.net
- Biogram on the KUL website (Polish)
Remarks
- ↑ Styczeń had refused a previously offered award of this order by President Aleksander Kwaśniewski because of his views on abortion
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Styczeń, Tadeusz |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Polish theologian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 21, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wołowice |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 14, 2010 |
| Place of death | Trzebnica |