Cardinal Jozef Glemp dies, aged 83

Cardinal Glemp with John Paul II in Warsaw, June 1999: photo - PAPTomasz Gzell (arch)

The Archbishop of Warsaw. Kazimierz Nycz, has said in a statement that Cardinal Glemp died in hospital from lung cancer after suffering from a long illness.

Cardinal Nycz called for prayers for the late cardinal, who was one of the cardinal electors during the 2005 selection of Pope Benedict XVI.

“It is with great sadness that we learn of the death of cardinal Jozef Glemp,” President of Poland Bronislaw Komorowski says in a statement on the President's Office web site.

Cardinal Glemp, born in December 1929 in Inowrocław, Kujawia, was appointed Primate of Poland after the death of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in 1981, a position he held until December 18, 2009.

“We say goodbye today, to a man who has dedicated his life for the good of the Church,” says the current Primate, Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk.

"He understood that the Church in Poland is always associated with the nation and was committed to that to the end […] The Primate was aware, however, that the Church can never be a substitute for public authorities, political or administrative,” adds Archbishop Kowalczyk.

Cardinal Glemp took over as Primate the year, 1981, martial law was declared by the communist authorities and led the Church through the difficult 1980s as communism collapsed.

“Primate Glemp turned out to be a man full of faith and hope,” Archbishop Kowalczyk says in a statement released early Wednesday morning.

“He trusted that justice and mutual understanding ultimately prevail. Therefore he undertook the difficult days of martial law and the 1980s calling for for mutual understanding, forgiveness and unity.” (pg)

source: PAP/IAR