He was regarded as an excellent preacher and author - but now the abbot of the Polish Benedictine monastery in Tyniec has resigned due to a "serious personal crisis".
As the monastic community announced on Thursday, the order's leadership has accepted Szymon Hiżycki's resignation.
Reasons for the 44-year-old's decision were not given to the Polish news agency PAP.
However, Hiżycki will remain a member of the community, according to the order's leadership.
However, he is currently staying outside the monastery walls.
The former abbot of the Benedictine monastery of Dormition in Jerusalem, Bernhard Alter, has been appointed administrator of the abbey for a period of twelve months.
During his term of office, the more than 30 monks of the community are to prepare for the election of a new abbot.
This requires a two-thirds majority in favour of a candidate.
Becoming abbot at the age of 35
Hiżycki has had a stellar church career: He joined the Benedictines at the age of 19, professed his vows at 21 and was finally ordained a priest at the age of 28.
He is considered an expert on the Church Fathers and classical literature, studied ancient monasticism at the Pontifical University of Sant'Anselmo and eventually taught at the Dominican College in Krakow.
He has been at the head of the abbey since 2015 at the age of just 35 and was re-elected abbot for a further eight years in January 2023.
Tyniec Benedictine Abbey is located around 13 kilometres south-west of Krakow and is one of the oldest monasteries still in existence in Poland.
The history of the abbey dates back to the 11th century.