Julian Wojtkowski

Julian Andrzej Antoni Wojtkowski is a Polish Roman Catholic prelate who served as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Warmia from 1969 until his resignation in 2004. He also holds the titular see of Murustaga.

Early life and education

Wojtkowski was born on 31 January 1927 in Poznań. During World War II, he and his family were arrested and interned in German camps, including Lager Głowno – Posen Ost, and later displaced to Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski. He completed secondary education through underground schooling and graduated from a mathematics and physics high school in Lublin in 1945.
He entered the Major Seminary in Lublin and studied for the priesthood for the Diocese of Warmia. Wojtkowski was ordained a priest on 25 June 1950 by Bishop Piotr Kałwa and received a licentiate in theology. He later pursued postgraduate studies in dogmatic theology at the Catholic University of Lublin, earning a doctorate in 1953.

Beginning in 1952, Wojtkowski taught at the Warmian Theological Seminary, the Warmian Theological Institute, and later at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn. He habilitated at the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Kraków in 1968.
He became a professor extraordinarius in 1987 and a professor ordinarius in 1997. His academic work focused on the history of Marian dogma in medieval Poland, early Polish glosses and texts in incunabula, and the history of the Diocese of Warmia. Over his career, he supervised numerous academic theses, including master's, licentiate, and doctoral dissertations.

On 17 August 1969, Wojtkowski was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Warmia and Titular Bishop of Murustaga by Pope Paul VI. He received episcopal consecration on 22 August 1969 in Warsaw, with Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński serving as principal consecrator, assisted by Bishops Józef Drzazga and Jan Władysław Obłąk.
His episcopal motto is Veni Domine Jesu. As a bishop, he was an active member of the Polish Episcopal Conference, serving as chairman of the Commission for Church Buildings, secretary of the Commission for the Catholic University of Lublin, and a member of councils dealing with migration, tourism, and pilgrimages.
He served as auxiliary bishop until his resignation was accepted by Pope John Paul II on 24 February 2004.