The secondary school years of Saint Józef (Biba) Bilczewski

Abstract

Józef Bilczewski, the archbishop of the city of Lviv, undoubtedly remains one of the most significant figures of the Catholic Church on Polish grounds at the beginning of the last century. Bilczewski has been the object of numerous biographies eulogising his pastoral and academic accomplishments. It turns out, however, that the time he spent in Wadowice (between 12 and 20 years of age), where he attended a secondary school for eight years, is often omitted by his biographers.

Józef Biba began his education in Wadowice Secondary School (pol.: Gimnazjum Realne) in September 1872. During his initial school years he was not an above-average pupil. This can be explained by the fact that at the beginning he might have had some adaptive difficulties being in a new environment. Nevertheless, over the years, the situation changed significantly. Following the school’s Headmaster’s Report for 1876–1880, in the fourth grade (1875/76) Biba took the seventh place out of 28 students. His systematic and persistent work brought effects in the sixth grade, when he was awarded the Nicolaus Copernicus scholarship. In the seventh grade he was one of the best students. A similar situation occurred in the final grade. He graduated as a top student and took the school-leaving examinations on June 14th 1880. He passed with honours, which allowed him to apply for the Jagiellonian University. In October 1880 he became a student of the Faculty of Theology at the university in question.