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Help with clergy titles/forms of address in Polish language?


marzanna  2 | 1
6 Mar 2018   #1
Cześć!
I was wondering if someone might be able to help with some religious terms for clergy, as I'm coming up a bit short on google.

1) I'm trying to figure out what the Polish terms for 'Sister' 'Mother' and 'Father' would be in Polish? As in Mother Teresa, Sister Maria, Father Timothy, etc....that kind of thing. Would it be 'siostra' or 'matka' like it is in English? So 'Siostra Maria'... Or is there another way it would be said in Polish?

2) Also wanted to ask about the Polish words for 'nun', 'abbess' and 'priest'? According to google translate, the word for an abbess would be 'ksieni', priest would be 'kapłan' and nun would be 'siostra zakonna' or 'zakonnica'. Are any/all of these correct? I don't always like to trust google translate...I've definitely been led astray before, lol!

Any help would be much appreciated!
Dziękuję :)
kaprys  3 | 2076
7 Mar 2018   #2
Mother - Matka like Matka Teresa.
Sister is Siostra.
Father is Ojciec (when you address a priest it's more common to use 'ksiądz' like 'ksiądz Mateusz' rather than 'Ojciec Mateusz' ;) or 'proszę księdza' rather than 'Ojcze')

Abbess is matka przełożona. Apparently kseni is also used but it's the first time I've heard it. Nun is zakonnica or siostra zakonna.

Priest is kapłan/ksiądz. You can say 'On jest księdzem'-He's a priest. Kapłan is usually used to describe 'a man in charge of religious service'.

You got them right then ;)
The only tricky thing is that they often change the ending depending on the grammatical case but that's another story.
OP marzanna  2 | 1
7 Mar 2018   #3
Ah wonderful!
Thank you so much for your help, much appreciated. Glad to see I wasn't too far off track, lol.
Megtheduck
20 Feb 2024   #4
How would you address a bishop or Archbishop in Polish?
Paulina  16 | 4338
20 Feb 2024   #5
@Megtheduck, when you're addressing them during a casual meeting:

bishop - "księże biskupie"
archbishop - "księże arcybiskupie"

But in case of official celebrations, letters and invitations:

"Wasza Ekscelencjo" (both for bishop and archbishop)


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