Biografia i pasterska posługa bp. Stefana Bareły w diecezji częstochowskiej na tle odniesień do korzeni rodzinnych

Abstract

For 20 years Bishop Stefan Barela was the bishop of the diocese of Czestochowa. Throughout his pastoral ministry he was forced to contend with the PRL System. However, he bravely stood by the side of the indomitable Cardinal Primate of the Millennium, Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski as well as Karol Wojtyla, who would later become John Paul II. In the history of the Polish Church he is remembered to be a „Marian Bishop” and „Shepherd with a big heart and mind”. He was adamantly against the socialist government. His family house in Zapolice, which is in the Kodrąb Parish had a tremendous impact on him. He was born into a peasant family. His parents, Joseph and Stefania, raised him in the Catholic faith and in fidelity to God, the Church and the homeland. They nurtured in him a life of prayer, simplicity and openness to others. In his future ministry he would view home as a „locus theologicus”. The same values he grew up with in his home, he would also live and teach to others. In 2011, his parishioners from his home parish in Kodrab built a monument in front of the church in his memory. Although it has been 30 years since he died, the memory of him is still alive in the hearts of the faithful of the Archdiocese of Czestochowa.