Stefan Wyszyński

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Cardinal Wyszyński (1981)
Cardinal Wyszyński (left) with the Archbishop of Poznan, Antoni Baraniak
Cardinal's coat of arms
Cardinal Wyszyński Memorial in Częstochowa
Cardinal Wyszyński's tomb

Stefan Cardinal Wyszyński (born August 3, 1901 in Zuzela in today's Masovian Voivodeship , Poland ; † May 28, 1981 in Warsaw ) was initially Bishop of Lublin , later Archbishop of Gniezno ( Gnesen ) and Warsaw as well as Primate of Poland .

Life

Stefan Wyszynski joined in 1920 in the seminary in Włocławek and received on August 3, 1924 by Bishop Wojciech Owczarek the sacrament of Holy Orders . From 1925 to 1929 he studied canon law and socio-economic sciences at the Catholic University of Lublin and obtained a doctorate in 1929 with his dissertation “The law of the family, the church and the state with regard to schools”. He then went on a one-year academic trip to Austria , Italy , France , Belgium , the Netherlands and Germany to get to know the activities of the trade unions and social movements. From 1931 he taught Catholic social economy at the seminary in Włocławek and at the same time was involved in educational work with Christian trade unions. In 1937 he became a member of the Social Council of the Primate of Poland.

During the Second World War he worked on conspiratorial educational work among the youth and worked as a clergyman in the Polish underground army during the Warsaw Uprising .

In 1945 he became a regens of the seminary in Włocławek. On March 25, 1946, Pope Pius XII appointed him . bishop of Lublin , and he received on May 12, 1946 August Cardinal Hlond the episcopal ordination ; Co- consecrators were Karol Radoński , Bishop of Włocławek , and Stanisław Czajka , Auxiliary Bishop in Częstochowa .

In 1948 he became Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw , at the same time Primate of Poland and Chairman of the Polish Bishops' Conference . On January 12, 1953, he was appointed cardinal . But then he was imprisoned for three years, from September 25, 1953 to October 26, 1956. It was not until May 18, 1957 that Wyszyński was officially admitted to the College of Cardinals as a cardinal priest with the titular church of Santa Maria in Trastevere .

From 1962 to 1965, Wyszyński took part in all the plenary assemblies of the Second Vatican Council and tried, albeit unsuccessfully, for a more explicit ecclesiastical recognition of the importance of Mary , the mother of Jesus . In addition, he became known towards the end of Vatican II when the appeal of the Polish bishops to their German brothers in office called for reconciliation between Poles and Germans. The request for forgiveness contained therein sparked outrage in the communist regime of Poland.

In September 1978, Wyszyński visited the Federal Republic of Germany at the invitation of the German Bishops' Conference with a delegation from the Polish episcopate, which included Karol Cardinal Wojtyła , who was elected pope a month later . From 1980 the Polish primate also played a decisive role as mediator between the Polish opposition movement Solidarność and the communist regime and demanded the right to free trade unions for workers and peasants; called on the opposition to be prudent and in their demands for moderation.

Wyszyński is a symbol of the intellectual resistance against the communist-atheist regime of Poland. Because of his role as guardian of the Christian identity of the Polish people in times of communist repression against the Church, he is also called Primate of the Millennium in Poland . In 1987, a memorial was erected to him in front of the Warsaw Visitant Church .

Beatification process

In 1989 the beatification process for Stefan Wyszyński was opened. Pope Francis awarded him the heroic degree of virtue on December 18, 2017 . On October 2, 2019, the Pope recognized a miracle attributed to Wyszyński's intercession as the final requirement for beatification. The beatification planned for June 7, 2020 in Warsaw was postponed indefinitely on April 28, 2020 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic .

Web links

Commons : Stefan Wyszyński  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Ziemer : The role of the Catholic Church in the political system change from 1988 to 1990 . In: Hans-Joachim Veen , Peter March, Franz-Josef Schlichting (ed.): Church and Revolution. Christianity in East Central Europe before and after 1989 . Böhlau, Cologne 2009, ISBN 978-3-412-20403-7 , pp. 75-100, here p. 75.
  2. ^ Hansjakob Stehle : Neighbor Poland . Extended new edition. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1968, p. 148.
  3. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , December 19, 2017, accessed December 19, 2017 (Italian).
  4. ^ Promulgazione di Decreti della Congregazione delle Cause dei Santi. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, October 3, 2019, accessed October 3, 2019 (Italian).
  5. ↑ Beatyfikacja kard. Wyszyńskiego bezterminowo zawieszona , accessed April 28, 2020 (Polish).
predecessor Office successor
August Cardinal Hlond SDB Archbishop of Warsaw
1948–1981 		Cardinal Józef Glemp
August Cardinal Hlond SDB Archbishop of Gniezno
1948–1981 		Cardinal Józef Glemp
personal data
SURNAME Wyszyński, Stefan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wyszyński, Stefan Cardinal (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish Roman Catholic clergyman; Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw; cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH August 3, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Zuzela , Masovian Voivodeship, Poland
DATE OF DEATH May 28, 1981
Place of death Warsaw