WARSAW, Poland, FEB. 2, 2001 (Zenit.org).- The Polish Parliament has dedicated the year 2001 to the “primate of the millennium,” Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, leading figure of the Catholic Church during the era of Communism.
In giving the deceased cardinal this official recognition, the Parliament repeated the words expressed by John Paul II on Oct. 23, 1978: “There would not have been a Polish Pope in the chair of Peter without your faith, which did not draw back in face of prison and suffering, without your courageous hope, without your infinite confidence in Mother Church, without Jasna Gora and the whole period of the Church´s history in our homeland, united to your episcopal service and primacy.”
Cardinal Wyszynski, when greeting the newly elected John Paul II, prophesied that the latter would lead the Church into the third millennium.
Cardinal Jozef Glemp, current primate of Poland, wrote a message in which he emphasized the relation of the Jubilee and the legacy of his great predecessor, who died May 28, 1981. He recalled that, in the difficult times of persecution, “Primate Wyszynski said he had entrusted everything to Mary, Mother of Christ. He wanted a Poland that was strong in faith and morality, founded on justice and social order, conscious of its Christian, historical and cultural identity.”
In honoring the figure of the “primate of the millennium,” Cardinal Glemp stressed his “respect for the human person, fruit of a lively faith and Christian culture.”
If this respect existed, Cardinal Glemp added, “at present there would be no culture of death and such strong violence. There would not be so many disoriented youths seeking alcohol and drugs. There would be no euthanasia and neglect of elderly, sick and handicapped people.”
