Grzegorz Moczygęba OFM (1888-1951) – a Franciscan Pastoral Minister and Author

Abstract

The Age of Enlightenment saw the emergence of written press that provided information as well as propagated certain opinions. Among others, also the Catholic Church, that means various organisations within it, used written word for evangelisation and pastoral work.

This article presents the life and literary work of Grzegorz Moczygęba, a Franciscan and an ardent minister to the Third Order of St. Francis. For seventeen years he was a member of the province of St. Hedwig, with its provincial house in Bresslau, but in 1923 he chose to move to the newly reborn ‘reformed’ province of the Immaculate Conception. He devoted his life to pastoral ministry to Franciscan tertiaries, a fact well reflected in his multiple publications. For several years he was also an editor of periodicals published by his province.

A brief characteristic of Grzegorz Moczygęba writings shows his good grounding in theology, culture and politics as well as his grasp of contemporary social changes. The variety of topics he covered in his writings made them useful not only for Franciscan tertiaries but also for all those, who had a deeper interest in the life of the Church and personal spiritual growth.