Entitled Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński in the Service of the Church and the Fatherland, the album has been hailed as an insightful documentary record of milestones from Wyszyński’s life as well as moments significant for the Catholic Church and Poland.
The album features recordings from the sound collections of the Wyszyński Institute in Warsaw as well as the archives of Polish Radio and the Polish Section of Radio Free Europe. These include a well-known statement by Wyszyński in the western Polish city of Gniezno in 1981, when he urged Poles to become more involved in the affairs of the Church and the nation.
The hour-and-a-half-long album also contains the recollections of numerous associates of Wyszyński, including his confessor, Father Edmund Boniewicz.
Wyszyński was ordained a priest in 1924 at the age of 23. He then studied in Poland and abroad for several years before taking residence in the city of Włocławek, north-central Poland, where he taught at a seminary and served the local community.
After World War II, Wyszyński was made a bishop and received a cardinal’s red hat in 1953. From 1948 until his death he was at the helm of the Catholic Church in Poland as its Primate.
Wyszyński was also known for his resistance to communism and for his efforts to protect the Catholic Church when Poland was under communist rule. Between 1953 and 1956 he was imprisoned by the communists.
He died of cancer on May 28, 1981, at the age of 79.
Wyszyński’s beatification, delayed from last year due to the pandemic, is due to be held in Warsaw on September 12.
In the Catholic Church, beatification is one step short of being declared a saint.
(jh/gs)
Source: IAR