Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski

H.E. Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski, a long time advocate of life and the dignity of the sick, passed away in July. 

Archbishop Zygmunt Zimowski was the president of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Health Care Workers since his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI on 18 April 2009. On Saturday, July 28, 2012, Archbishop Zimowski was named a Member of the Congregation for Bishops by Pope Benedict XVI. He previously served as bishop of Radom from 2002 until his appointment in the Roman Curia.

In the Polish Bishops' Conference, he held the following positions: President of the Episcopal Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith, Member of the Permanent Council, Delegate for the Pastoral Care of Migrants Poles, Member of the Ecumenical Commission and the Group for Contacts with the Polish Ecumenical Council, Member of the group of Bishops for the Pastoral Care for Radio Maria, and Member of the Polish Society of Mariology.

He participated in the preparation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and worked with the Polish section of Radio Vatican, as well as participated in and served mass at the 2013 and 2015 MaterCare Rome conferences.

MaterCare International is deeply saddened by this loss. The staff, council and board of administration of MaterCare International send his friends and family, and all the staff at the Pontifical Council, our prayerful condolences. We are sure that His Excellency has seen his God as He really is and has been received with a smile and a warm embrace as a good and faithful servant.

"As obstetricians, we have been most grateful for his support and encouragement, most recently at the time of our 2015 Rome Conference. A special mass in celebration for His Excellency's life and work will be offered at our Parish of St Pius X in St John’s, Newfoundland," Dr. Robert Walley stated.

MaterCare International mourns the death of Fr Jacques Hamel who was murdered in the horrific terrorist atrocity in Normandy. He, along with those wounded physically and mentally in the attack, will be at the forefront of our prayers in the coming days.

Archbishop Lebrun, who was returning to France from World Youth Day in Krakow, said in a statement:

“The Catholic Church cannot take weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men. I leave here hundreds of young people who are the future of humanity, the true ones. I ask them not to give in to the violence and become apostles of the civilization of love.”

The “civilisation of love” founded on Jesus Christ is the only sure way to overcome violence in all its forms. Only by being conformed to Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit can we become building blocks in a different kind of world marked by the peace and love seen in Jesus Christ. Catholic Obstetricians and Gynecologists and indeed all Catholics are called to confront and respond to dehumanization and violence by offering and embodying an alternative to it. This alternative comes with a name – Jesus Christ – and becomes visible in the world through men and women embodying Him through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

This brutal attack does not deter us but encourages us to live differently in the world, never giving in to violence in any of its forms but striving to embody peace and forgiveness. And so in addition to praying for the martyred Fr Hamel and the other victims, we pray, with love, for their attackers and those behind them. Only God’s love can transform them and only God can empower us to offer an alternative to the violence they represent.