Calumet born Monsignor Rembert Casimir Kowalski OFM., Bishop Kowalski entered the Franciscan Order in 1903 and was ordained priest in 1911. His father was killed in a mining accident in Calumet the very day of his ordination, so, sadly, his first Mass was his father's funeral.
Assistant and then pastor at Sacred Heart, Gallup, New Mexico, and pastor at Peña Blanca for one year, in 1925 after Chinese language studies, he was appointed rector of the seminary and was superior of the mission in Wuchang, China, from 1931 to 1937. In 1942 he was consecrated Vicar of Wuchang with the Titular See of Ipsus, succeeding Bishop Sylvester Espelage OFM.
Shortly after his consecration, he spent nearly three years, most of which in solitary confinement, in a Japanese concentration camp. After release from imprisonment by the Japanese in Shanghai, he spent twenty eight more months in Communist prisons following the Communist takeover after the Second World War. He was finally repatriated in 1953. Upon returning to the United States, he chose to live at St. Anthony, Cincinnati. While still in good health he travelled quite a bit, preaching retreats and missions and devotion to the Blessed Virgin and ordaining many of his fellow Franciscan Friars. He vowed to return to China and never to come back to his homeland. But God and the Chinese government dispensed him from his vow. He went to St. Michaels, Arizona, because of failing health, and died there at the age of 86.
Assistant and then pastor at Sacred Heart, Gallup, New Mexico, and pastor at Peña Blanca for one year, in 1925 after Chinese language studies, he was appointed rector of the seminary and was superior of the mission in Wuchang, China, from 1931 to 1937. In 1942 he was consecrated Vicar of Wuchang with the Titular See of Ipsus, succeeding Bishop Sylvester Espelage OFM.
Shortly after his consecration, he spent nearly three years, most of which in solitary confinement, in a Japanese concentration camp. After release from imprisonment by the Japanese in Shanghai, he spent twenty eight more months in Communist prisons following the Communist takeover after the Second World War. He was finally repatriated in 1953. Upon returning to the United States, he chose to live at St. Anthony, Cincinnati. While still in good health he travelled quite a bit, preaching retreats and missions and devotion to the Blessed Virgin and ordaining many of his fellow Franciscan Friars. He vowed to return to China and never to come back to his homeland. But God and the Chinese government dispensed him from his vow. He went to St. Michaels, Arizona, because of failing health, and died there at the age of 86.
Calumet born Monsignor Rembert Casimir Kowalski OFM., Bishop Kowalski entered the Franciscan Order in 1903 and was ordained priest in 1911. His father was killed in a mining accident in Calumet the very day of his ordination, so, sadly, his first Mass was his father's funeral.
Assistant and then pastor at Sacred Heart, Gallup, New Mexico, and pastor at Peña Blanca for one year, in 1925 after Chinese language studies, he was appointed rector of the seminary and was superior of the mission in Wuchang, China, from 1931 to 1937. In 1942 he was consecrated Vicar of Wuchang with the Titular See of Ipsus, succeeding Bishop Sylvester Espelage OFM.
Shortly after his consecration, he spent nearly three years, most of which in solitary confinement, in a Japanese concentration camp. After release from imprisonment by the Japanese in Shanghai, he spent twenty eight more months in Communist prisons following the Communist takeover after the Second World War. He was finally repatriated in 1953. Upon returning to the United States, he chose to live at St. Anthony, Cincinnati. While still in good health he travelled quite a bit, preaching retreats and missions and devotion to the Blessed Virgin and ordaining many of his fellow Franciscan Friars. He vowed to return to China and never to come back to his homeland. But God and the Chinese government dispensed him from his vow. He went to St. Michaels, Arizona, because of failing health, and died there at the age of 86.
Assistant and then pastor at Sacred Heart, Gallup, New Mexico, and pastor at Peña Blanca for one year, in 1925 after Chinese language studies, he was appointed rector of the seminary and was superior of the mission in Wuchang, China, from 1931 to 1937. In 1942 he was consecrated Vicar of Wuchang with the Titular See of Ipsus, succeeding Bishop Sylvester Espelage OFM.
Shortly after his consecration, he spent nearly three years, most of which in solitary confinement, in a Japanese concentration camp. After release from imprisonment by the Japanese in Shanghai, he spent twenty eight more months in Communist prisons following the Communist takeover after the Second World War. He was finally repatriated in 1953. Upon returning to the United States, he chose to live at St. Anthony, Cincinnati. While still in good health he travelled quite a bit, preaching retreats and missions and devotion to the Blessed Virgin and ordaining many of his fellow Franciscan Friars. He vowed to return to China and never to come back to his homeland. But God and the Chinese government dispensed him from his vow. He went to St. Michaels, Arizona, because of failing health, and died there at the age of 86.
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