Stanisław Wielgus

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Stanisław Wielgus
Stanisław Wielgus

Archbishop Stanisław Wojciech Wielgus (born 23 April 1939) is the former Roman Catholic archbishop of Warsaw. After his appointment to the position of archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI on 6 December 2006, he assumed the office on 5 January 2007 only to resign two days later, less than an hour before his public installation ceremony, because of a scandal connected with his cooperation with the Służba Bezpieczeństwa - the Polish Communist Secret Police.

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[edit] Biography

Stanisław Wielgus was born in Wierzchowiska, in today's Lublin Region. At the age of 23, he was ordained a priest on 10 June 1962 by Bishop Piotr Kalwa. An expert in Polish philosophy and medieval philosophy, he spent thirty years teaching in the faculty of philosophy of the Catholic University of Lublin, serving three terms as rector there. Father Wielgus was appointed Bishop of Płock on 24 May 1999 by Pope John Paul II, and received his episcopal consecration from Józef Cardinal Glemp on 1 August of that year. He taught at the University of Munich, from 1973 to 1975 and again in 1978, where the then Professor Joseph Ratzinger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI, was teaching as an associate. From 1990 to 1993 he was the vice chairman of the Conference of Rectors of Polish Universities. He serves as a member and consultant on the Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, and is a member of the Humanities section of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

He served as the bishop of Płock from 1 August 1999 until 2006, when he was named archbishop of Warsaw by Pope Benedict XVI on 6 December 2006.

As bishop of Płock Stanisław Wielgus was one of the most famous people in the history of this city. On 29 December 2006 he got a special title Honour Resident of Płock. Through his last ceremony in this city people shouted Thank You.

Archbishop Wielgus took the "oath of fidelity" on 5 January 2007,[1] and in the following evening, he took canonical possession of the archdiocese. His installation, at which time he was to take canonical possession of the cathedral-basilica, was scheduled for 7 January. However, he resigned from the position on January 7, 2007, in the midst of a scandal connected to his cooperation with the Polish Communist Secret Police.

[edit] Information about cooperation with the Communist Security Service

On 20 December 2006, journalists found documents from the communist archives according to which Archbishop Wielgus collaborated—or at least conversed—with the communist Secret Police during communist rule in Poland. This development is particularly significant in the context of post-communist Polish politics because public figures, particularly politicians, can be officially censured and barred from holding public office if found to have collaborated with the Security Services (Polish: Służba Bezpieczeństwa) of the People's Republic of Poland (Polish: PRL, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa).[2] The process of review of the Security Service's files, known in Poland as Lustration (Pol: Lustracja) has been the source of many political scandals in recent years. The Polish human rights ombudsman, Janusz Kochanowski, said on January 4, 2007, that there was evidence in the secret police archives that Archbishop Wielgus knowingly cooperated with Communist authorities. Polish and international newspapers have published some of the documents, which appear to show that Wielgus had extensive contact with Security Services agents over a protracted period.

Archbishop Wielgus acknowledges that he signed a cooperation statement in 1978, but insists that he did so only under coercion and disputes the length and characterization of his contact as it would appear in the published reports.[3] He made a public statement on January 4, 2007 indicating that he only provided information concerning his own academic work, and that the reports seriously distort the truth.[3] However, according to the Polish national newspaper, Rzeczpospolita and other papers, Father Wielgus had a much more extensive role than he admits, providing information about student activities as far back as 1967, when he was a philosophy student at the Catholic University of Lublin. Archbishop Wielgus only acknowledges a relationship beginning in 1978. Wielgus has asked the Polish bishops' conference to examine the files pertaining to him.

The Vatican initially maintained its support of Wielgus: "The Holy See, in deciding the nomination of the new archbishop of Warsaw, took into consideration all the circumstances of his life, including those regarding his past .... (Pope Benedict XVI) has every confidence in Monsignor Stanisław Wielgus and in full conscience entrusted him the mission of pastor of the archdiocese of Warsaw."[4]

[edit] Resignation

Msgr. Wielgus assumed his new duties as Archbishop on January 5, 2007, and was due to be officially installed on January 7, 2007, at a ceremony in St. John's Cathedral in Warsaw. However, less than an hour before the cermony, he resigned.[5] Some reports indicate that his resignation followed consultations within the Vatican and with the Polish government involving Pope Benedict and Polish president Lech Kaczyński.[6] [7] Giovanni Battista Cardinal Re, head of the Congregation for Bishops, explained to the Italian daily the Corriere della Sera that Pope Benedict himself decided on the dismissal of the Archbishop, adding that "(when) Monsignor Wielgus was nominated, we did not know anything about his collaboration with the secret services,"[8] The Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi stated that "The behavior of (Archbishop) Wielgus during the years of the communist regime in Poland seriously compromised his authority, even with the faithful." [9]

Prior to the disclosure of his involvement with the Communist-era Secret Police, Wielgus, like most archbishops of Warsaw, had been widely expected to be appointed Cardinal after the death of his predecessor.

[edit] Aftermath

Because Archbishop Wielgus was a successor to the legendary Archbishop (and Cardinal) Stefan Wyszyński, who was jailed by the communist government for years during the 1950's, and because he would serve in the city whose clergy are symbolized by Father Jerzy Popiełuszko, who was murdered by the same communist Secret Police with whom Wielgus collaborated, the revelations concerning Wielgus are particularly shocking in Polish religious and political contexts.[10]

A day after the Wielgus resignation, Father Janusz Bielanski resigned as rector of Wawel Cathedral in Krakow. According to a local church spokesman, Bielanski's resignation was "in connection with repeated allegations about his cooperation with the secret services" of the Communist era. He added that Krakow's archbishop, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, accepted the resignation.[11]

[edit] Wielgus as Archbishop Emeritus

Wielgus will continue to teach Polish philosophy and medieval philosophy, at the faculty of philosophy of the Catholic University of Lublin.[citation needed]

In February 2007 it emerged that Archbishop Wielgus is preparing a court case to clear his name he "will be defended by Marek Małecki, the same lawyer who was recently successful in getting a clearing verdict for Małgorzata Niezabitowska, press aide for Poland’s first government after 1989 round table compromise agreement with the communists. The verdict for Niezabitowska said that while she had been a registered spy for the communist, there is no evidence to prove that she was fully aware of the fact. Now the vetting court will examine the case of Archbishop Wielgus, whose guilt was pronounced as beyond doubt by two independent historical committees". [1]

On 12 February 2007 Stanisław Wielgus got a special letter from Benedikt XVI. Pope wrote there: I hope, You will be working again for the Church in Poland[12].

[edit] Sources

  1. ^ see: Canon 380
  2. ^ Najfeld, Joanna (2006-12-20). Gazeta Polska: Archbishop Wielgus a former communist spy. Polish Radio. Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
  3. ^ a b Archbishop admits meeting with secret police, says ‘I never inflicted any harm.’ Catholic News Service, 2007-01-06
  4. ^ New Catholic prelate wasn't a spy, Vatican and Polish bishops say Catholic News Service, 2006-12-21
  5. ^ Polish archbishop quits amid row BBC 2007-01-07
  6. ^ Vatican says it knew nothing of Wielgus's past News from Poland.pl, 2007-01-08
  7. ^ Archbishop Wielgus has stepped down Polish Radio External Service 2007-01-07
  8. ^ Pope didn't know Warsaw bishop spied, cardinal says Reuters, 2007-01-07
  9. ^ Archbishop's prompt resignation prompts Vatican embarrassment, relief Catholic News Service 2007-01-07
  10. ^ Polish bishop denies concealing communist-era cooperation from Pope Benedict XVI , Associated Press, 2007-01-28
  11. ^ Head Priest of Krakow Cathedral Resigns : Rector also had ties to secret police By Vanessa Gera, Associated Press, 2007-01-09
  12. ^ The special letter from Benedikt XVI to Stanisław Wielgus

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Zygmunt Kamiński		 Bishop of Płock
1999-2007		 Succeeded by
Piotr Libera
Preceded by
Józef Cardinal Glemp		 Archbishop of Warsaw
2007		 Succeeded by
Kazimierz Nycz


Persondata
NAME Wielgus, Stanisław Wojciech
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Father Wielgus; code names: Grey; Adam; Adam Wysocki
SHORT DESCRIPTION Bishop of Płock, Archbishop of Warsaw, Polish Communist Secret Police informer
DATE OF BIRTH April 23, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Wierzchowiska, near Janów Lubelski, Poland
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH