Bruce Lewandowski


Bruce Alan Lewandowski, CSsR is an American priest of the Catholic Church and a member of the Redemptorists. He is the auxiliary bishop-elect of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, having been appointed to the position in 2020. He previously served in New York City, Saint Lucia, and Pennsylvania.

Early life

Lewandowski was born in Toledo, Ohio on June 8, 1967. He attended Saint Alphonsus College in Suffield, Connecticut, and Holy Redeemer College in Washington, D.C.. Starting in 1988, he studied theology at Washington Theological Union. He also learned Spanish in anticipation of being assigned to missions run by the Redemptorists in the Dominican Republic or Paraguay. On May 7, 1994, Lewandowski was ordained to the Catholic priesthood at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Presbyteral ministry

Lewandowski's first pastoral assignment was as parish vicar at St. Cecilia Church in Manhattan. He was then transferred to Immaculate Conception Church in The Bronx two years later. He went as a missionary to Vieux Fort, Saint Lucia, in 1998, and stayed there until 2000. That year, he became a full-fledged pastor at St. Boniface Church in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. He subsequently served as parish priest of the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kensington from 2006 to 2011.
Lewandowski was the vicar for cultural ministries in Philadelphia from 2011 until late 2015, when he became pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Highlandtown, located in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. He is a leader in Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development, and collaborated with the activist group in October 2018 to create a parish identity card. This was especially beneficial for parishioners at Sacred Heart, many of whom are undocumented immigrants. Lewandowski described planned raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in June 2019, which would target immigrant communities in Baltimore like Highlandtown, as "an act of domestic terrorism". He became William E. Lori's interim delegate for Hispanic ministry on August 22, 2019.

Episcopal ministry

Lewandowski was appointed auxiliary bishop of Baltimore and titular bishop of Croae on June 10, 2020. He is scheduled to be consecrated on August 18, 2020, at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen. He will carry on with his current responsibilities after his episcopal ordination.