Jan Purwinski
Bishop Jan Purwinski or Yan Purvinskyi was a Latvian-born Ukrainian Roman Catholic prelate who served as the Diocesan Bishop of Kyiv–Zhytomyr since 16 January 1991 until 15 June 2011.
Early life
Bishop Purwinski was born into a peasant Roman Catholic family of Polish ethnicity in Latgale. After graduation from school he joined the Major Theological Seminary in Riga in 1956, and was ordained as priest on 13 April 1961, for his native Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Riga.Career
From 1961 until 1977, Fr. Purwinski began to serve as an assistant priest in Daugavpils and after, as a parish priest and vice-dean in Krāslava, Baltinava and Indra. In 1977 he was transferred to Ukraine and began to learn the Ukrainian language and work as assistant priest in St. Sophia's Cathedral, Zhytomyr. Before moving to Ukraine Fr. Purwinski spoke Polish, Latgalian, Latvian and Russian. Alongside parish work, from 1981 until 1991 he served as a Bishopric Vicar for Ukraine and Moldova.On 16 January 1991 he was appointed by Pope John Paul II as the Diocesan Bishop of the recreated Roman Catholic Diocese of Zhytomyr. On 4 March 1991, he was consecrated as bishop by Archbishop Francesco Colasuonno and other prelates of the Roman Catholic Church in St. Sophia's Cathedral in Zhytomyr.