Leon Grochowski

Leon Grochowski (11 October 1886 – 17 July 1969) was the second Prime Bishop of the Polish National Catholic Church in the United States, Canada and Poland and early American radio evangelist.

Born in Skupie, Poland, he came to the United States in July 1905, on board the S/S Bremen which sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany, to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. He became a United States citizen in 1923. Grochowski was a partisan freedom fighter during the last Czarist occupation of Poland, forcing him to flee Russian authorities. Upon reaching America he continued his studies in engineering which he started in Germany but became interested in the Polish National Catholic Church (PNCC) movement. Upon graduation from the PNCC Savonarola Theological Seminary, one of his first pastorships was St. Adalbert's Parish in Dickson City, Pennsylvania, where he led rebuilding efforts following an arson fire that destroyed the parish's original structure.

Grochowski was elected bishop on July 15, 1924, and was consecrated to the episcopate on August 17, 1924. He then served as bishop of the Western Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church, based in Chicago, Illinois, for 30 years. During that time, he helped organize parishes throughout the Midwest and became an early radio evangelist.

Grochowski's tenure as PNCC prime bishop in America also focused on the youth of the church which included overseeing the construction of St. Stanislaus Youth Center in the late 1960s in Scranton, Pennsylvania. After this, he was awarded the keys to the City of Scranton, Pennsylvania. His body is entombed in the "Monument of Gratitude" Mausoleum in St. Stanislaus Cathedral Cemetery, Scranton, Pennsylvania, where he rests with the PNCC's First Presiding Bishop, Bp. Hodur. He was succeeded by Bp. Thaddeus Zielinski, who said upon his death that he, "gave all his loyalty, love and labor for the church and his people," and that Grochowski believed that, "to serve people is to serve God. He gave his life for Jesus and the church."