embassy events 2008 

Ambassador Discusses Religious Faith in Poland with Archbishop of Warsaw-Praga

30 October 2008

Ambassador Ashe and His Excellency the Archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, Henryk Hoser

Ambassador Ashe met October 30 with His Excellency the Archbishop of Warsaw-Praga, Henryk Hoser.  The Ambassador and the Archbishop discussed the importance of faith in Poland and the Church's role in maintaining Polish identity during the partitions of Poland and again during World War II and the Communist era.  Archbishop Hoser was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to be Archbishop of Warsaw-Praga in May and was installed on June 28.  Prior to that, Archbishop Hoser served as Secretary Adjunct of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and President of the Pontifical Mission Societies (2005-2008).  He graduated from the Warsaw Medical Academy in 1966. In 1969 he entered the Society for the Catholic Apostolate (Pallottine Fathers), where on June 16, 1974 he was ordained a priest. From 1975-1995, he served as a missionary in Rwanda. In 1978, he founded a Medical-Social Center in Kigali, overseeing it for 17 years.   From 1996 to 2003 he was SAC Regional Superior and member of the Missionary Council of the Conference of Major Superiors in France.  In 2004, he became Rector of the Pallottine Mission Procura in Brussels and was involved in pastoral ministry in the European Union.