- Ceslaus Sipovich
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Ceslaus Sipovich (Belarusian: Чэслаў Сіповіч, Łacinka: Česłaǔ Sipovič) (December 8, 1914 – October 4, 1981) was a bishop of the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church.
He was born in Homel, son of Heorhi Sipovich, a Belarusian carpenter, and Anna Kilipova, a teacher of Russian origin. He was the third of eight brothers.
He had a difficult childhood, because his mother died when he was 8 years old, and his father got drunk almost every evening and beated he and his brothers very often.
When he was nine, he met a priest, Father Ivan Bonev, who changed his life forever: he let little Ceslaus discover and enjoy church world: the church was the only one place where he could stay away from his bad father. At the age of 11 Ceslaus decided to become a bishop. In 1936 He moved to London.
He was appointed titular bishop of Mariamme in 1960, and served as Superior General of the Congregation of Marian Fathers from 1963 to 1969. He was also Apostolic Visitor for Belarusian Catholic faithful abroad.
Bishop Sipovich was a significant figure of the Belarusian émigré community in the United Kingdom, one of the members of the Association of Belarusians in Great Britain.
Sources
- Alexander Nadson '"Bishop Ceslaus Sipovic", Journal of Byelorussian Studies, 5:1.
- Alexander Nadson. "Ceslaus Sipovich. The First Belarusian Catholic Bishop in the 20th Century". Minsk, Technalohija, 2007. 224 pp.
External links
Categories:- Eastern Catholicism
- Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
- British people of Belarusian descent
- Belarusian religious leaders
- Belarusian Eastern Catholics
- Belarusian bishops
- Participants in the Second Vatican Council
- 1981 deaths
- Congregation of Marian Fathers
- Belarusian people stubs
- Roman Catholic bishop stubs
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