Konrad Krajewski was born in Łódź on 25 November 1963 and entered the diocesan seminary there in 1982. Ordained a priest on 11 June 1988, he served as a parish vicar before being sent to Rome, where he took a licentiate in sacred liturgy at the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant'Anselmo (1993) and a doctorate in theology at the Angelicum (1995). Returning to Łódź he was prefect of the seminary and master of ceremonies; in 1998 he joined the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, and on 12 May 1999 John Paul II made him a Papal Master of Ceremonies — the smiling face at the Pope's right hand in a thousand photographs.
On 3 August 2013 Pope Francis appointed him Almoner of His Holiness — the pope's personal agent for works of charity — and he was consecrated archbishop that September. Francis created him cardinal on 28 June 2018, with the deaconry of Santa Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino. As almoner, and from 2022 as Prefect of the new Dicastery for the Service of Charity, he turned the office outward: showers and a barbershop for the homeless under St Peter's colonnade, a beach and a laundry for the poor, ambulances driven personally to Ukraine again and again after 2022. On 12 March 2026 Pope Leo XIV appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Łódź, and he took possession of his native archdiocese on 28 March 2026.
Consequential Quotes
I intervened personally last night to turn back on the meters. It was a desperate gesture. There were over 400 people without electricity, families with children.
The absurd thing is that we are in the heart of Rome. Nearly 500 people left to themselves. They are families who have no place to go, people who struggle to survive.
From the Vatican we sent the ambulance, the doctors, the food. We are talking about human lives.
With faith the war can stop, and with all my faith I go to Ukraine to experience the concrete consequences of the act of entrustment to Mary.
I don't feel ready, but I have to go because I read the Gospel every day.
Major Works & Initiatives
Almoner of His Holiness
Appointed by Pope Francis to head the Apostolic Almonry — the office that distributes the Pope's personal charitable giving — and from 2022 Prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity that succeeded it.
Showers, barbershop and dormitory for the homeless
Built showers, a barbershop and a dormitory for Rome's homeless beneath the colonnade of St Peter's, the emblem of his street-level almonership.
The Spin Time electricity reconnection
Personally restored power to an occupied Rome building housing over 400 people, accepting legal responsibility for the act (see Controversies).
Ukraine missions
Travelled repeatedly to war-torn Ukraine as the Pope's envoy — delivering ambulances blessed by Francis, aid convoys and generators, praying at Bucha and Izium, and coming under fire near Zaporizhzhia in September 2022.
Controversies
Restoring power to the Spin Time building (2019)
On 11 May 2019 Krajewski descended into a manhole and broke the seals of the electricity company to restore power to the Spin Time Labs building in Rome, occupied since 2013 and housing over 400 people, whose supply had been cut over some €300,000 in unpaid bills. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini attacked the act and demanded the Vatican pay the arrears; critics called it law-breaking by a prince of the Church who enjoyed immunity from prosecution. Krajewski accepted personal responsibility, called it a desperate and humanitarian gesture for families with children, and the Holy See framed it as drawing attention to a real emergency. The act remains the defining controversy of his almonership — praised as Gospel charity in action, condemned as clerical civil disobedience, by turns.