KRAKÓW, Poland (OSV News) -- Taking the most prestigious archbishop's seat in the country, the Archbishops' Palace of Krakow, Cardinal Grzegorz Rys -- one of the most globally recognized Polish owners of the red hat -- makes history by becoming the successor of Krakow's archbishops who reshaped the church in Poland.
The Franciszkanska Street palace -- once home for Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, and Cardinal Adam Sapieha -- a steadfast prince who preserved the church in Kraków amid Nazi German terror, was covered in snow as the Vatican announced Pope Leo XIV's decision Nov. 26 to appoint Cardinal Rys to Krakow, having him move from Lódz, where he has been archbishop since September 2017.
The outgoing Archbishop Marek Jedraszewski, 76, whose resignation was accepted Nov. 26, said it "was a great grace to be the archbishop of Krakow. I am grateful to God for the example of faith of the people who live here," he said in a packed chapel of the Krakow's archbishops.
Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, archbishop of Krakow from 2005 to 2016 and longtime personal secretary of St. John Paul II, was present in the curia during the announcement of the new archbishop's appointment. He thanked Archbishop Jedraszewski for his service in the archdiocese, saying "it's not a farewell" as Archbishop Jedraszewski plans to live in Krakow's St. Florian Parish during his retirement.
Simultaneously, some 173 miles north, in Lódz, 61-year-old Cardinal Rys said, surrounded by the curial staff: "You know that those moments are very difficult," highlighting that "what we achieved in Lódz was a work of God."
"Thank you for your closeness and friendship," he said in an emotional speech in an archdiocese where, he once told OSV News, he would "wish to stay until the end."
Listing the things he was most proud of during his tenure in Lódz, he pointed to the synodal process in the archdiocese, charitable works, massive encounters with youth and seminary formation programs.
"I hope none of those are the works of 'Rys' but the works of God," he said.
While he is often referred to as a disciple of St. John Paul II -- being ordained a priest in the golden age of Krakow's seminary formation -- in 1988 -- he said Nov. 26 that it was Pope Francis who "taught me the understanding of the church."
"From him, I learned everything I believe in regarding the church," and "I can't imagine another church than the one Francis taught us."
"I don't want a church that isn't missionary, I don't want a church that isn't merciful, I don't want a church that isn't open, that isn't in dialogue, I don't want another church. He taught me how to understand the church," the cardinal said.
For Father Robert Tyrala, rector of the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków, Cardinal Rys' pick for Kraków is "good news" as he "has already made himself known as an auxiliary bishop in Kraków and the archbishop of Lódz, as a man who has always been a shepherd" -- not only among the faithful but also among priests -- and "this is very much needed today."
Cardinal Rys is "a man who transcends boundaries" and "a man who will always be with the church," Father Tyrala, a professor of church music, told OSV News. "Above all, I do hope he will listen."
Listening as part of internal communications of the archdiocese is something that Kraków lacked the most for the last nine years under Archbishop Jedraszewski, church observers say.
"Cardinal Rys was an obvious pick for an archbishop of Kraków nine years ago," said Edward Augustyn, editor of the Tygodnik Powszchny, or Universal Weekly, referring to the time when Archbishop Jedraszewski -- who comes from Poznan and also administered in Lódz before coming to Kraków -- was appointed instead by Pope Francis.
"If that had happened, it probably would have been less damaging" for the church in Kraków and in Poland, Augustyn said.
Archbishop Jedraszewski leaves the historic diocese deeply divided, with priests reporting lacking contact with their pastor and faithful tired of the political statements of the outgoing archbishop, Augustyn said, because the archbishop "took one side of the political debate in Poland," but also because "his contact with priests, let alone the lay faithful, was very limited -- very formal, very professional, very ceremonial and not immersed in today's times."
Cardinal Rys is a fierce advocate of the role of laity in the church, ecumenical and interreligious relations, a friend of Jews and advocate of Jewish-Christian relations, and a practical implementer of the idea of a missionary church, especially with regard to the youth. Upon his appointment he quickly became a "Wojtyla kind of pick" of Pope Leo, for many.
Cardinal Rys is "very courageous pastorally," Augustyn said. He is "the initiator of the new evangelization, that is, all these new methods of communicating the Gospel to modern man. Times have changed, and these methods have changed, but John Paul also sought these new ways of reaching people, especially young people."
Cardinal Dziwisz said that Cardinal Rys is "our own man" who "understands the community" in Kraków.
"He certainly sees the problems, but he also sees the positive side of things in the church, including in cooperation with laypeople and priests. I think he will move the archdiocese forward, and this will also be important for all of Poland."
In a conversation with OSV News, Cardinal Dziwisz emphasized that he was pleased that the priest he had ordained as a bishop had become the metropolitan of Krakow and that he would act in "the spirit that the church needs at this time, and I hope that it will bear fruit in Krakow."
"Just look at the current pope," said Cardinal Dziwisz. "He is open, decisive -- and all of this is necessary in government," but he also has the "heart and love" combined with "prudence."
Meanwhile, Tygodnik Powszechny's Augustyn said that with a somewhat classic appointment of an important cardinal to an important metropolitan seat, "Pope Leo is returning to the established customs in the church," seeing it as a "departure from the various kinds of experiments that Pope Francis was introducing, where bishops of small dioceses or auxiliary bishops in metropolitan cities suddenly became cardinals, while the metropolitans remained archbishops."
These "experiments and approaches were unprecedented," Augustyn said, adding that "Pope Leo is resorting to more familiar, perhaps predictable approaches."
He said that the most urgent task on the new archbishop's desk is to "bring about some kind of renewal, revival, and revival of faith and unity in the Archdiocese of Krakow, to establish good relations with priests," something that would be fairly easy for someone "for whom 80 or 90% of the parish priests in the archdiocese -- are his seminary colleagues."
"They'll probably be more confident with him," Augustyn said, while Cardinal Rys was often accused by some in the church, he added, of being too reserved in commenting on important social issues and "avoided entering into any conflicts."
"Above all, he avoided speaking out on political matters," also diplomatically avoiding conflicts with his brothers bishops.
His latest decision to establish on Nov. 14 the second independent diocesan commission to investigate past cases of sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Lódz, Augustyn said, "was a powerful statement against other bishops," while the Polish bishops' conference struggles to establish the independent commission on a national level.
"I hope he will establish a similar commission in Krakow soon," Augustyn said. "And he is a historian, so he certainly knows about these matters and knows what is in the archives, he knows how to research these archives, so that also gives some hope for the future."
