Henryk Muszyński

His Excellency Henryk Muszyński
Archbishop Emeritus of Gniezno Primate Emeritus of Poland
Church	Roman Catholic
Archdiocese	Gniezno
Diocese	Gniezno
Predecessor	Józef Glemp
Successor	Józef Kowalczyk
Personal details
Born	(1934-03-20) 20 March 1934 Kościerzyna
Nationality	Polish
Motto	In Verbo Tuo (At Thy word)

Coat of Henryk Muszyński

Henryk Józef Muszyński (born March 20, 1934 in Kościerzyna, Kashubia) is the Primate Emeritus of Poland and former Archbishop of Gniezno, Poland, having been appointed by Pope John Paul II when the Polish hierarchy was reorganized in March 1992. He had previously been Bishop of Włocławek since 1987.

Life

He is known for his Biblical studies, especially concerning the Qumran manuscripts.

He is considered to be progressive and open to accepting different religions and civilizations.

Together with Danuta Hubner and Tadeusz Pieronek, Muszyński coauthored a reflection on the integration of Polish Christianity into the European Union. This reflection persuaded many Polish rectors to become proponents of Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004.

Primate Henryk Muszyński (right) and Józef Glemp (left)

Historically, the Archbishop of Gniezno served simultaneously as the Primate of Poland. But when the reorganization of the Polish Church's ecclesiastical structure severed the See from Warsaw, an exception was made to continue the long-standing tradition until the retirement of the Archbishop of Warsaw, who had previously been Archbishop of both cities. On 1 November 2006 Pope Benedict XVI sent a letter to Józef Glemp confirming that Cardinal Glemp would be the Primate of Poland until 18 December 2009, his 80th birthday.^[1] After that, Pope Benedict XVI sent letter to Primate of Poland Henryk Muszyński with his blessings and compliments for his future service.^[2]

According to controversial records saved in Instytut Pamięci Narodowej, since 1985 to 1989 Henryk Muszyński was registered as secret collaborator of communist Służba Bezpieczeństwa,^[3] however he states that he did not agree and not even know^[3] about that fact, and that his superiors where informed^[3] about all talks with communists (these talks are considered obligate and unavoidable). Muszyński himself expressed^[3] regret, if it could happened that he resisted ineffectively.

Archbishop Muszynski has sought to constantly improve relations with Jews and Germans. He was praised by Pope Benedict XVI for doing this in 2005.

References