The Institute

Professor Gabriel Witaszek, Redentorista

Studies Professor Gabriel Witaszek was born on the twenty-second of April 1951 in Tumusin, Poland. After studying philosophy and theology at the Redemptorist Major Seminary at Tuchów he was ordained to the priesthood on the twenty-fifth of May 1978.

In 1978 he began studies in Sacred Scripture at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, where he completed his Biblical Licence in December 1981. Subsequently he completed his doctorate in Biblical theology at the Gregorian Pontifical University. His doctoral thesis “The prophets Amos and Micah in the struggle for social justice in VIII century B.C.” was written under the guidance of Professors Edouard Hamel and Charles Conroy. During his doctoral studies he taught at the Redemptorist Major Seminary at Tuchów. He attended language courses in Germany, France, Ireland and The United States; he also spent time in Biblical studies in the Holy Land and Egypt.

Offices undertaken in the Redemptorist Province in Poland
On his return to Poland in 1986 he began teaching Sacred Scripture at the Redemptorist Major Theological Seminary at Tuchów, at the same time carrying out the office of Vice-Prefect of Students. Following on from this, his teaching of Biblical sciences was extended to include the Redemptorist Major Philosophical Seminary at Cracow. In this same period he was Director of the Redemptorist Provincial Library in Poland.

Various assignments in the Catholic University of Lublin in Poland
IOn December 17th 1992 he obtained his university teaching qualification at the Catholic University of Lublin in Poland. In 1993 he was employed by the same University as lecturer of the Old Testament in the Faculty of Theology. In 1994 he was appointed director of the Chair of Exegesis of the Prophetical Books of the Old Testament in the Biblical Institute of the Faculty. In his period as Chair and under his direction, about 70 baccalaureate thesinas and some doctorate theses were written.
In 1996 he was elected Vice Dean and subsequently Dean of the Faculty (1999). As Dean he transferred the entire faculty from the old to the new building, taking care to reorganise it, create new professorships, furnish new lecture halls and equip the offices of the Faculty with computers and with new operational programmes. The re-organisation of the secretariat of the Faculty was completed, as well as the Library, the lecture hall, the offices of the Institute, and indeed those of the students of theology. The problem of the distribution of the post was resolved, in an efficacious manner. An important innovation of the Faculty was the furnishing of the musicology hall with modern radio transmission equipment which permitted the organisation of musical concerts of a notable level.
As Dean of the Faculty, in the autumn of 1999, he had to face the problem related to the Bologna Process to which Poland had adhered. All the programme of the Faculty was re-arranged for the transfer to the ECTS system. Besides, in 2000, the Theological Faculty of the Catholic University of Lublin, as the first among all the other Theological Faculties, received the certificate of quality of the teaching of theology.
Under the leadership of Professor Gabriel Witaszek, the Faculty of Theology conferred five doctorates honoris causa to the following people:

1. Elio Toaff, Rabbi of Rome, and Teoctist Arapasu, Orthodox Patriarch of Romania, for their contribution to inter-religious dialogue and to ecumenism.
2. Cardinal William Henry Keeler, Archbishop of Baltimore, for having had a notable influence on the pastoral work of the universal Church.
3. Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, authentic witness of the life and apostolic activity of John Paul 2nd.
4. Cardinal Camillo Ruini, Vicar of the Pope for the Diocese of Rome.

Professor Gabriel Witaszek was also one of the first founders of the new course of studies on the family in the Faculty of Theology, which has earned a notable success by responding to the needs of the Church and of modern society. In 1999 he was nominated Director of the Institute of Studies on the Family.
For a full six years he was a member of the Academic Senate. In the Academic Year 1997/1998 he filled the role of Secretary of the Senate of the University, contributing actively to the development of the University.
During his period of activity at the University, he took part in the works of various Commissions and he led the direction of the Editorial Commission of the Academic Senate for five years.
In the year 2000 he received the Individual Award of the Rector of the University for his editing of the book Tertio Millennio Adveniente. Na progu trzeciego tysialecia, RWKUL, Lublin 2000, 494 p.

Professor of the Theological Faculty of Central Italy at Florence
In 2003 he began to work as a professor with Biblical specialization in the Theological Faculty of Central Italy and the Institute of Religious Sciences "Blessed Ippolito Galantini" in Florence.

The activity at the Alphonsian Academy in Rome
In 2004 the leaders of the Alphonsian Academy asked him to teach Biblical morality at the Academy and so began his academic experience in Rome in 2005/2006 as a visiting professor and later in 2007 as an extraordinary professor. After two years working at the Academy, he was elected secretary of the Commission for the Publications of the Alphonsian Academy (EDACALF) – Studia Moralia, and as a member of the Committee on Finances. At his suggestion, the internal layout of the journal Studia Moralia was changed, starting with volume 46.1 (2008).

The Other Activities
n 1994 he received an honorary Doctorate “honoris causa” at the Institute of Pedagogy in Tarnopol in Ukraine together with the famous philosopher Professor Albert Krapiec.
From 2000 to 2002 he was consultor in the Commission for Catholic Education of the Polish Episcopal Conference.
He organised and cooperated in the organisation of many Congresses and meetings both national and international, taking part in many conferences in a variety of countries like Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Ukraine, Germany, Sweden, Finland and Italy.
He is a member of the College of Consultors for the Journal Keryks. Internazionale Religionspadagogische Rundschau and is the secretary of the editorial commission for the Journal Studia Moralia.
He is a member of numerous theological and biblical associations, among which are:
1. Italian Biblical Association
2. Polish Scientific Biblical Association
3. Scientific Association of the Catholic University of John Paul II in Lublino (Poland)

He has held conferences on biblical theology for the Radio Antenna Toscana UNO, Network Radiofonico Region of Prato (2003/2004) and has been involved in various pastoral ministries in a variety of parishes in Italy, Germany and the United States of America. At present he periodically ministers in a couple of Italian Shrines.
He has written many books, articles and reviews in specialised journals on different concerns regarding the moral and social themes in the Old Testament.

The biographical references related to professor Gabriel Witaszek   have been based on the following texts

BOMBICKI M. R., Encyklopedia Actus Purus. Kto jest kim w Polsce nowego millenium 2000-2002 [Enciclopedia Actus Purus. Who is Who in Poland in the New Millenium 2000-2002], Polska Narodowa Oficyna Wydawnicza, Białystok 2002, 573.

JUDYCKI Z. A., Polscy duchowni w świecie. Słownik biograficzny [Polish Clergy throughout the World. Biographical Dictionary], Redakcja Informatorów Biograficznych, Kielce 2008, 431.

Kto jest kim w Polsce? [Who is Who in Poland?], Wydawnictwo Polskiej Agencji Informacyjnej S. A., Warszawa 2001, 1028.

OWCZARSKI A., Bibliografia Redemptorystów Polskich (1883-2008) [A Bibliography of Polish Redemptorists (1883-2008], Homo Dei, Kraków 2009, 292-299.

PIKOŃ K., SOKOŁOWSKA A. (red.), Złota księga nauki polskiej 2006. Naukowcy Zjednoczonej Europy [The Golden Book of Polish Science 2006. Men of Science in United Europe], Wydawnictwo Helion, Gliwice 2006, 905-906.

POLAK G., Kto jest kim w Kościele? [Who is Who in the Church?], KAI, Warszawa 1995, 411; 1999, 404-405.

WALKUSZ J. - MOSKAL T. (red.), Dziekani Wydzialu Teologii Katolickiego Uniwersytetu Lubelskiego Jana Pawla II (1919-2009) [The Deans of the Faculty of Theology at the Catholic University of Lublin John Paul II (1919-2009)], Wydawnictwo KUL, Lublin 2009, 247-254.

Współcześni uczeni polscy. Słownik biograficzny, [Polish Men of Science Today. Biographical Dictionary], t. IV, OPI, Warszawa 2002, 696.

Złota księga nauk humanistycznych 2004 [The Golden Book of Humanistic Sciences 2004], Wydawnictwo Helion, Gliwice 2004, 434.

http://nauka-polska.pl

 

The complete bibliography of this Professor written in Polish with a translation in Italian is available in pdf format. Bibliography

 

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