Cardinal Stefan Wyszinski declined to be nominated as pope during a 1978 conclave, proposing instead his compatriot Karol Wojtyla, the late Polish primate's journal reveals. Polskie Radio quotes historian Peter Raina's new book 1978: The Election of Pope John Paul II which is based on access to Wyszinski's journal.
Raina says that during the conclave Wyszynski was asked by a group of cardinals whether he would accept the appointment.
The Polish primate declined giving several reasons for his decision.
Firstly, he believed that the Bishop of Rome should be Italian and, secondly, he felt responsible for defending the Catholic Church in Eastern Europe.
Wyszynski also pointed to his age and stressed that the future pope should be more comprehensively prepared for his role.
In a compromise, Wyszynski suggested Karol Wojtyla as a more suitable candidate adding that it would be Wojtyla's duty to accept the offer.
Cardinal Wojtyla was in fact elected as Pope John Paul II.
Peter Raina is a conservative Catholic publicist, author of several books in Polish and English on the Catholic Church in Poland, Polskie Radio says.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: CTHN)
(Posting 6,900 of 2008)