Józef Glemp (18 December 192923 January 2013) was a Polish
cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was
Archbishop of Warsaw
The following is a list of the bishops and archbishops of Warsaw. On 30 June 1818, the see was elevated to the rank of an archdiocese.
Also included are the auxiliary bishops.
Bishops of Warsaw:
* Józef Miaskowski, 1798–1804
*, Apostolic A ...
from 1981 to 2006, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983.
Biography
Early life and ordination
Józef Glemp was born in
Inowrocław
Inowrocław (; german: Hohensalza; before 1904: Inowrazlaw; archaic: Jungleslau) is a city in central Poland with a total population of 70,713 in December 2021. It is situated in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, previously in the By ...
on 18 December 1929 as a son of Kazimierz Glemp and Salomea Kośmicka, and was
baptized
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
the same day.
His father had participated in the
Greater Poland Uprising from 1918 to 1919. Józef studied at the
seminaries
A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...
of
Gniezno
Gniezno (; german: Gnesen; la, Gnesna) is a city in central-western Poland, about east of Poznań. Its population in 2021 was 66,769, making it the sixth-largest city in the Greater Poland Voivodeship. One of the Piast dynasty's chief cities, ...
and
Poznań
Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...
, but his education was interrupted by the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
; he and his siblings were
slave laborers during the
Nazi occupation of Poland
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
.
Glemp was
ordained
Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...
to the priesthood on 25 May 1956 by Bishop Franciszek Jedwabski. Glemp was of German descent on his father's side. On a visit to Scotland, he claime
Scottish descenton his mother's side.
Early service
Between 1956 and 1959, Glemp was involved in the education of incurable youth and children in
Mielżyn
Mielżyn is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Witkowo, within Gniezno County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It lies approximately south of Witkowo, south-east of Gniezno, and east of the regional capital Po ...
and
Witkowo
Witkowo (; is a town in Gniezno County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, located southeast of Poznań.
Witkowo is one of the production sites of the Greater Poland liliput cheese (''ser liliput wielkopolski''), a traditional regional Polish c ...
. He also taught religion classes in
Wągrowiec
(german: Wongrowitz) is a town in west-central Poland, from both Poznań and Bydgoszcz. Since the 18th century it has been the a seat of a powiat. Administratively it is attached to the Greater Poland Voivodeship. The town is situated in the m ...
,
Miasteczko Krajeńskie
Miasteczko Krajeńskie is a town in Piła County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, in west-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Miasteczko Krajeńskie. It lies approximately south-east of Piła and north ...
, and
Polska Wieś.
After two years of
pastoral
A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. It lends its name to a genre of literature, art, and music (pastorale) that depicts ...
service in Poznań, Glemp was sent to Rome in 1958 to study
canon law
Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...
at the
Pontifical Lateran University
The Pontifical Lateran University ( it, Pontificia Università Lateranense; la, Pontificia Universitas Lateranensis), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Ponti ...
, earning his doctorate ''in utroque iure'' in 1964,
with a thesis on: ''De evolutione conceptus fictionis iuris''. After his practicum he was given the title of Advocate of the Roman Rota. He attended a course in stylistic Latin at the
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy.
The Gregorian originated as ...
and also finished his studies in ecclesial administration.
Chaplain
In 1964, Glemp completed all of his studies in Rome and returned to Gniezno in Poland.
He became chaplain of the Dominican and Franciscan Sisters and teacher of religion in the house for delinquent minors. He worked as Secretary of the Seminary of Gniezno and as notary for the Curia and the metropolitan tribunal and also as defender of the bond.
Secretariat of the Primate
In December 1967, he worked in the Secretariat of the Primate, and for 15 years was one of Cardinal
Stefan Wyszyński
Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on ...
's close collaborators. As the personal chaplain of the Cardinal, he accompanied him on his journeys within Poland and to Rome. He exercised varied responsibilities in the Commissions of the Polish Episcopate and taught Canon Law at the Academy of the Catholic Theology in
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
. He participated in several congresses on this topic in Poland and abroad. In 1972 he was named a
Chaplain of His Holiness
A Chaplain of His Holiness is a priest to whom the Pope has granted this title. They are addressed as Monsignor and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and vestments.[John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...]
named Glemp
Bishop of Warmia
This is a list of Bishops and Prince-Bishops of the Diocese of Warmia ( pl, link=no, Diecezja warmińska, la, link=no, Dioecesis Varmiensis, german: link=no, Bistum Ermland), which was elevated to the Archdiocese of Warmia in 1992.
The Bishop ...
, in the northeast part of Poland and he was consecrated on 21 April, in Gniezno.
After the death of Cardinal Wyszyński on 18 May 1981, he was named Archbishop of Gniezno on 7 July 1981, in union "pro hac vice, ad personam" with the
Archdiocese of Warsaw
The Archdiocese of Warsaw is a Catholic ecclesiastical territory or diocese in Poland encompassing the Polish capital. It was erected on October 16, 1798.
It was elevated to an Archdiocese on June 30, 1813.
A Metropolitan See, its suffragan di ...
. As Bishop of Gniezno he became also the Primate of Poland.
Cardinal
Glemp was created Cardinal-Priest by John Paul II in the consistory of 2 February 1983
and assigned the titular church of
Church of St. Mary in Trastevere. On 25 March 1992, with the restructuring of the Church dioceses in Poland, John Paul II dissolved the union "ad personam" of Gniezno-Warsaw, naming as Metropolitan Archbishop of Gniezno Bishop
Henryk Muszynski. The Pope decided that the title of Primate of Poland should remain linked to the historical heritage of S. Adalberto in the Archdiocese of Gniezno and confirmed that Cardinal Józef Glemp, Archbishop of Warsaw, who had custody of the relics of S. Adalberto, which were venerated in the Cathedral of Gniezno, should continue to bear the title of Primate of Poland. Pope Benedict XVI stipulated that Cardinal Glemp, despite his retirement, would remain primate until 18 December 2009, his 80th birthday.
Episcopal conference
Cardinal Glemp acted as President of the Episcopal Conference of Poland for 23 years, from 1981 until March 2004.
He was president delegate to the 1st Special Assembly for Europe of the Synod of Bishops (1991).
Glemp was one of the
cardinal electors
A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...
who participated in the
2005 papal conclave that selected
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
.
Apostolic administrator
On 7 January 2007, it was announced that Cardinal Glemp would be acting as the Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Warsaw due to the resignation of
Stanisław Wielgus. On 3 March 2007,
Kazimierz Nycz
Kazimierz Nycz (born 1 February 1950) is a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church who has been the Archbishop of Warsaw since 2007. He was Bishop of Koszalin-Kołobrzeg from 2004 to 2007, after serving more than fifteen years as auxiliary bishop ...
was appointed to the Warsaw see.
Death
Glemp died from lung cancer on 23 January 2013 in Warsaw at the age of 83. Funeral celebrations lasted three days, from 26 to 28 January 2013, and took place in three major churches of Warsaw. On Saturday, 26 January, the cardinal's body was
lying in state in the
Visitationist Church
Church of St. Joseph of the Visitationists ( pl, Kościół Opieki św. Józefa w Warszawie) commonly known as the Visitationist Church ( pl, Kościół Wizytek) is a Roman Catholic church in Warsaw, Poland, situated at '' Krakowskie Przedmieście ...
. On Sunday, the coffin was moved to the
Church of the Holy Cross, where a Holy Mass was celebrated by Archbishop
Celestino Migliore
Celestino Migliore (born 1 July 1952) is an Italian Archbishop of the Catholic Church who serves as the Apostolic Nuncio to France. He previously served as
Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. He has spent most of his caree ...
, the
apostolic nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international org ...
to Poland, with the sermon preached by Archbishop
Józef Michalik
Józef Michalik (born April 20, 1941, in Zambrów) is a Polish Roman Catholic bishop, the diocesan Bishop of the Zielona Góra-Gorzów diocese in 1986-1993 (to 1992 of Gorzów), Archbishop of Przemyśl in 1993–2016, and the President of the P ...
, the head of the
Polish Conference of Bishops. After the mass, a funeral procession took the coffin to
St. John's Cathedral. The Monday, 28 January 2013 Funeral Mass was attended by president
Bronisław Komorowski
Bronisław Maria Komorowski (; born 4 June 1952) is a Polish politician and historian who served as President of Poland from 2010 to 2015.
Komorowski served as Minister of Defence from 2000 to 2001. As Marshal of the Sejm, Komorowski exercised ...
and his wife Anna, former president
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratica ...
, former prime minister
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime min ...
, representatives from the judiciary, the Senate, and the Sejm, and other high-ranking officials from various institutions. Over a hundred prelates from Poland and abroad (among them, Prague's Cardinal
Dominik Duka
Dominik Jaroslav Duka O.P. (born 26 April 1943) is a Czech prelate of the Catholic Church who was archbishop of Prague from 2010 to 2022. He was made a cardinal in 2012. He was bishop of Hradec Králové from 1998 to 2010. He was Spiritual Pro ...
, Budapest's Cardinal
Peter Erdo, Barcelona's Cardinal
Lluis Martinez Sistach, Cologne's Cardinal
Joachim Meisner
Joachim Meisner (25 December 1933 – 5 July 2017) was a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the immediate past Archbishop of Cologne, serving from 1989 until his resignation was accepted by Pope Francis in 2014. He previously serve ...
, and Zagreb's Cardinal
Josip Bozanić
Josip Bozanić (; born 20 March 1949) is a Croatian Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the eighth Archbishop of Zagreb, having previously served as Bishop of Krk from 1989 to 1997. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2003. He is a member ...
) concelebrated, with Cardinal
Stanisław Dziwisz
Stanisław Jan Dziwisz (; born 27 April 1939) is a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Metropolitan Archbishop of Kraków from 2005 until 2016. He was created a cardinal in 2006. He was a long-time and influential aide to Pope ...
, the Archbishop of
Kraków
Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...
, presiding. The homily was given by the Archbishop of Gniezno,
Józef Kowalczyk
Józef Kowalczyk (; born 28 August 1938) is a Polish Roman Catholic prelate, canon lawyer and diplomat who, from 1989 to 2010, served as the first apostolic nuncio to Poland since World War II. He later served as archbishop of Gniezno and primate ...
, the incumbent Primate of Poland. Afterwards, the late primate was entombed in a crypt of the cathedral.
Curial membership
*Oriental Churches (congregation)
*Culture (council)
*
Apostolic Signatura
The Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura () is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church (apart from the pope himself, who as supreme ecclesiastical judge is the final point of appeal for any ecclesiastical judgment). In additio ...
(tribunal)
Views
Radio Maryja
Primate Jozef Glemp said in 2005 that the Catholic
Radio Maryja
Radio Maryja is a religious and political socially conservative Polish radio station. It was founded in Toruń, Poland, on 9 December 1991, by the Redemptorist Tadeusz Rydzyk. The name "Maryja" is a traditional Polish form of the name "Mary", ...
was causing a rift in the Church.
Wielgus affair
During the controversy surrounding the alleged collaboration of bishop
Stanislaw Wielgus with the communist secret services, Cardinal Glemp said that the prelate was a true servant of God and that media accusations against him were unfounded or exaggerated.
Controversial 1989 sermon
Glemp gave a homily in 1989 for which he faced criticism for years afterwards. In it, he suggested that Jews had spread alcoholism in Poland, and talked of Jewish control of the media. In 1991, Glemp wrote a letter to an American archbishop in which he expressed regret for the sermon, and said he recognized that it might have caused pain among Jews. During his visit to the United States later that year, Glemp met with a dozen Jewish leaders inside the residence of John Cardinal O'Connor in New York while about 100 protestors demonstrated outside. In that meeting, Glemp and the Jewish leaders set up a program in which Jewish scholars would go to Poland and teach about the contributions and history of Jews in Poland.
Notes
References
External links
List of Primates of Poland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glemp, Jozef
1929 births
2013 deaths
Archbishops of Warsaw
Archbishops of Gniezno
Bishops of Warmia
Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II
Deaths from lung cancer
Members of the Apostolic Signatura
People from Inowrocław
20th-century Polish cardinals
Pontifical Gregorian University alumni
Pontifical Lateran University alumni
21st-century Polish cardinals
Members of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre