Grzegorz Wojciech Ryś (born 9 February 1964) is a Polish Catholic prelate who has served as Archbishop of Łódź since 2017. He was previously an auxiliary bishop of the

Archdiocese of Kraków In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

and titular bishop of Arcavica from 2011 to 2017. He also served as an apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Kalisz from 2020 to 2021.

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

made Ryś a

cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...

on 30 September 2023.

Biography

Early life

Grzegorz Wojciech Ryś was born on 9 February 1964 in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

. In 1982–1988, he studied at the Faculty of Theology and the Faculty of History of the Church of the Pontifical Academy of Theology in Kraków, as well as at the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Kraków. He was ordained a priest on 22 May 1988 in the

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral (), formally titled the Archcathedral Basilica of Stanislaus of Szczepanów, Saint Stanislaus and St. Wenceslas, Saint Wenceslaus, () is a Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it ...

by Cardinal Franciszek Macharski, then the Metropolitan Archbishop of

. In 1994, Ryś earned a doctorate in theological sciences based on his dissertation about Medieval folk piety in Poland. In 2000, having completed a dissertation on

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1369 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czechs, Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and t ...

, Ryś obtained a post-doctoral degree in the field of history.

Priestly ministry

From 1988 to 1989, Ryś worked as a vicar in the parish of Saints Margaret and Catherine in

Kęty Kęty is a town in Oświęcim County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland with 18,955 inhabitants (2012). The town located in Silesian Foothills dates its earliest document from 1277 when Polish prince of Opole Władysław confirmed sale of the se ...

. From 2004 to 2007, he was the director of the Archives of the Metropolitan Chapter in Kraków. He was also a commentator on the pilgrimages of John Paul II on Polish Television and Polish Radio. After the latter's death, Ryś co-organized vigils, while during the beatification process he sat on the historical commission of the Rogatory Tribunal. He became the head of the Department of Church History in the Middle Ages and the Department of Ancient and Medieval History at the Institute of History at the Faculty of History and Cultural Heritage of the

Pontifical University of John Paul II The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow () is an academic institution located in Kraków, Poland, that offers graduate degrees in theology, philosophy, and church history. It derived from the theology faculty of Jagiellonian Unive ...

(formerly the Pontifical Academy of Theology). From 2007 to 2011, Ryś was the rector of the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Kraków. In the years 2010 and 2011, he also served as chairman of the Conference of Rectors of the Theological Seminary in Poland.

Auxiliary Bishop of Kraków

On 16 July 2011, Ryś was appointed by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Kraków as well as the titular bishop of Arcavica. He was ordained on 28 September 2011 in the

, with the consecrator being Cardinal

Stanisław Dziwisz Stanisław Jan Dziwisz (; born 27 April 1939) is a Polish Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Kraków from 2005 to 2016. He was created a cardinal in 2006. He was a long-time and influential aide to Pope John Paul II, a friend of Pope ...

, metropolitan archbishop of Kraków, and co-consecrators cardinals Franciszek Macharski, archbishop emeritus of Kraków, and

Stanisław Ryłko Stanisław Marian Ryłko (born 4 July 1945) is a Polish cardinal of the Catholic Church. He held positions in the Roman Curia beginning in 1987 and was president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity from 2003 to 2016. He was made a cardinal i ...

, chairman of the Pontifical Council for the Laity. Ryś chose "Virtus in infirmitate" (Power in Weakness) as his bishop's motto.

Archbishop of Łódź

On 14 September 2017

appointed Ryś archbishop of Łódź. He was installed as archbishop in the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Stanislaus Kostka on 4 November 2017. On 29 June 2018 was given his

pallium The pallium (derived from the Roman ''pallium'' or ''palla'', a woolen cloak; : pallia) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by the Holy See upon metropolitan bish ...

in a ceremony at

St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican (), or simply St. Peter's Basilica (; ), is a church of the Italian High Renaissance located in Vatican City, an independent microstate enclaved within the city of Rome, Italy. It was initiall ...

in Rome, and it was imposed on him on 5 October 2018 in the Łódź cathedral by Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, the Apostolic Nuncio in Poland. In 2018, Ryś convened the fourth synod in the history of the Archdiocese of Łódź, which considered introducing a

permanent diaconate A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Catholi ...

to combat the shortage of priests. In 2019, he introduced a permanent diaconate within his archdiocese, and also created the International Diocesan Missionary Seminary for the new Evangelization of Redemptoris Mater for seminarians who are part of the

Neocatechumenal Way The Neocatechumenal Way, also known as the Neocatechumenate, or NCW is a program in the Catholic Church. It is inspired by the catechumenate of the early Catholic Church where converts from paganism were prepared for baptism through a process ...

. On 25 June 2020 Ryś was appointed by Pope Francis as the Apostolic Administrator ''sede plena'' for the Diocese of Kalisz while Bishop Edward Janiak was investigated on charges he had protected "predator priests" who engaged in acts of sex abuse. He was named Apostolic Administrator ''sede vacante'' when Pope Francis accepted Janiak's resignation on 17 October 2020. His mission ended as the new bishop of Kalisz, Damian Bryl, was installed. On 21 November 2020, Pope Francis named him as a member of the

Congregation for Bishops The Dicastery for Bishops, formerly named Congregation for Bishops (), is the department of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church that oversees the selection of most new bishops. Its proposals require papal approval to take effect, but are usu ...

Cardinal

On 9 July 2023, Pope Francis announced that he planned to make Ryś a cardinal. At a consistory on September 30 2023, Ryś was made Cardinal-Priest of Santi Cirillo e Metodio. He participated as a

cardinal elector A cardinal is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. As titular members of the clergy of the Diocese of Rome, they serve as advisors to the pope, who is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. Ca ...

in the

2025 papal conclave A conclave was held on 7 and 8 May 2025 to elect a new pope to succeed Pope Francis, Francis, who had died on 21 April 2025. Of the 135 eligible Cardinal electors in the 2025 papal conclave, cardinal electors, all but two attended. Cardinal Piet ...

that elected

Pope Leo XIV Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since May 2025. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States and North America, the fir ...

References

External links

Ryś Card. Grzegorz

Holy See Press Office The Holy See Press Office (; ) is the press office of the Holy See. It publishes the official news of the activities of the Pope and of the various departments of the Roman Curia. All speeches, messages and documents, as well as the statements ...

Archived
from the original on 2 October 2023 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rys, Grzegorz 1964 births Living people Bishops of Kraków 21st-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Poland Clergy from Kraków Members of the Congregation for Bishops Bishops appointed by Pope Benedict XVI Cardinals created by Pope Francis 21st-century Polish cardinals