Behind the Scenes of the Appointment of the Successor of the Armenian Catholic Archbishop of Lwów, Józef Teodorowicz

Already in 1935 the archbishop of Armenian Catholics in Poland, Józef Teodorowicz, turned himself to the the C ongregation for the Oriental Churches to ask for appointing a coadjutor with the right of succession. He pointed to Rev. Andrzej Łukasiewicz from Czerniowce and Rev. Adam Bogdanowicz from Lwów as potential candidates for the post. Neither of them was eventually appointed, because the Holy See was considering closing the archdiocese and also questioned candidates’ qualifications. After the archbishop’s death (4 December 1938), the issue was re-raised, however, the candidates chosen by the archdiocese were rejected by the C ongregation for the Oriental Churches and Apostolic Nunciature in Warsaw. The rejected candidates were: Rev. Dionizy Kajetanowicz, Rev. Walerian Bąkowski, and Rev. Kajetan Amirowicz. Thus Łukasiewicz’s candidature was re-considered. The article presents opinions about Łukasiewicz and the situation of the Armenian Archdiocese in Lwów. Eventually, Łukasiewicz’s nomination turned out void both due to extended debates in Vatican dicasteries and the outbreak of World War II.