Jan Pietraszko

Jan Pietraszko (7 August 1911 - 2 March 1988) was a Polish Roman Catholic bishop who served as one of the auxiliaries for the Kraków archdiocese and Titular Bishop of Turrisblanda from 1962 until his death. Pietraszko was a noted spiritual director and chaplain as well as a popular confessor but was best known for his sermons and for his homiletic writings.

He made it a practice where collections could not be taken during the traditional singing of Christmas carols in his church. He walked around often in a simple black clerical cassock as opposed to his episcopal attire. From 20 December 1968 he began his membership in the archdiocesan liturgical commission.

Pietraszko died in a neurological clinic on 2 March 1988. In an official telegram of condolence his friend Pope John Paul II hailed him for his "particular wisdom". His remains were interred on 7 March in the Saint Anne church under the altar of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Beatification process The beatification process for the late prelate opened in the Kraków archdiocese under Cardinal Franciszek Macharski in a diocesan process that launched on 18 March 1994 and closed on 24 April 2001; its task was to accumulate documentation (including his spiritual writings) and witness interrogatories. The formal launch to the cause came on 7 July 1994 after the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome issued the "nihil obstat" (no objections) decree and titled Pietraszko as a Servant of God. The C.C.S. later validated this process on 22 February 2002 as having adhered to the congregation's regulations for conducting causes.

In 2012 the postulation (officials in charge of the cause) submitted the Positio dossier to the C.C.S. officials. This dossier was the culmination of all the evidence gathered during the diocesan phase; it detailed the late bishop's life and his reputation for holiness thus making the official argument for his becoming a saint. Theologians approved the dossier on 27 February 2018 as did the C.C.S. cardinal and bishops months after. Pietraszko became titled as Venerable on 21 December 2018 after Pope Francis confirmed that he had practiced heroic virtue during his lifetime.

The first postulator assigned to the cause was Stanisław Ryłko who had been a student of Pietraszko. The current postulator for this cause is Monsignor Właysław Gasidło.

Writings Considerations (1961 and 1964) Meetings (1967) Meditations on the Way (1977 and 1983)