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Józef Glemp (18 December 192923 January 2013) was a Polish
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 ...
of the
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. He was Archbishop of Warsaw from 1981 to 2006, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. He assumed the title of Primate of Poland following Stefan Wyszyński's death.


Biography


Early life and ordination

Józef Glemp was born in Inowrocław on 18 December 1929 as a son of Kazimierz Glemp and Salomea Kośmicka, and was baptized 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 college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clerg ...
of Gniezno and
Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...
, but his education was interrupted by the
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
; he and his siblings were slave laborers during the Nazi occupation of Poland. Glemp was
ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...
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 descent
on 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 ...
and Witkowo. He also taught religion classes in Wągrowiec, Miasteczko Krajeńskie, and Polska Wieś. After two years of
pastoral The pastoral genre of literature, art, or music depicts an idealised form of the shepherd's lifestyle – herding livestock around open areas of land according to the seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture. The target au ...
service in Poznań, Glemp was sent to Rome in 1958 to study
canon law Canon law (from , , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical jurisdiction, ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its membe ...
at the
Pontifical Lateran University The Pontifical Lateran University (; ), also known as Lateranum, is a pontifical university based in Rome. The university also hosts the central session of the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family. The university ...
, 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 Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...
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'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, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
. He participated in several congresses on this topic in Poland and abroad. In 1972 he was named a
Chaplain of His Holiness Chaplain of His Holiness is a title of distinction given by the Pope in recognition of a priest's service to the Church. They are addressed with the honorific of "Monsignor" and have certain privileges with respect to ecclesiastical dress and ve ...
, and in March 1976 he became Canon of the Metropolitan Chapter at Gniezno.


Bishop

On 4 March 1979,
John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...
named Glemp Bishop of Warmia, 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. 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 who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected
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 ...
.


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 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. On Sunday, the coffin was moved to the Church of the Holy Cross, where a Holy Mass was celebrated by Archbishop Celestino Migliore, the
apostolic nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; 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 organization. A nuncio is ...
to Poland, with the sermon preached by Archbishop Józef Michalik, 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 was the fifth president of Poland from 2010 to 2015. Komorowski previously served as Ministry of National Defence (Poland), Minister of National Defence ...
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 Polish presidential election, 1990 election, Wałę ...
, former prime minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki, 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, Budapest's Cardinal Peter Erdo, Barcelona's Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach, Cologne's Cardinal Joachim Meisner, and Zagreb's Cardinal Josip Bozanić) concelebrated, with Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, the Archbishop of
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 ...
, presiding. The homily was given by the Archbishop of Gniezno, Józef Kowalczyk, 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 (tribunal)


Views


Radio Maryja

Primate Jozef Glemp said in 2005 that the Catholic Radio Maryja 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 in Poland 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