Domenika Gorlicka
National Library of Latvia. In Copyright
Jāzeps Rancāns was born in 1886 in Nautrēnu pagasts, Latvia. An outstanding student, Rancāns was ordained a priest at 25 and appointed auxiliary bishop of Riga in 1923. A year later, he was ordained titular bishop of the Roman Catholic Church of Marcopolis. From his youth, Rancāns was an ardent advocate for Latvia, serving several years in Vatican City as a government representative. On 17 March 1944, he co-signed the Memorandum of the Central Council, rejecting Nazi Germany rule. After Pauls Kalniņš’ death in 1945 he even became President of the Republic. Yet Rancāns was forced into exile, settling in Bavaria at a Capuchin Monastery. In 1951 he moved to the States, where he would serve as a chaplain at the Carmel Convent in Grand Rapids (Michigan) until his death in 1969. Rancāns was presented with several national and international awards, among which the Latvian Order of the Three Stars.
