In scenes more expected of a Solidarity get together in Poland on Sunday, a chastened Stanislaw Wielgus had to stop short of reading the full Papal Letter which in effect has denied him elevation to the position of Archbishop of Warsaw.In the congregation, whilst reading the letter, people both clapped and heckled the appointed incumbent who only agreed to step down just an hour before the ceremony was due to begin in Warsaw Cathedral. Before he could finish the reading of the letter, Wielgus had to sit down - albeit not in the throne he was hoping to take possession of today.
The controversy surrounding his appointment is due to his having co-operated with the Communist regime from the 1960’s onwards for almost 20 years if not more in spying on his clerical colleagues, and he attempted to deny this but the Polish media latched on to the story and exposed it over the last few weeks and days.
This did not prevent Il Papa from signing off on his appointment which had been ratified within the Curia for some time, a Curia which had itself declared that it had been aware of the background of Wielgus but felt there was nothing there to impede his appointment.
Obviously, the outcry and sheer vocalism of the Polish people was heard in Rome, and the appointment was retracted by Papal Letter which was read and applauded by the faithful who had taken to the streets outside the Cathedral in protest at the appointment.
The Archbishopric of Warsaw is considered the most important appointment next to that of Cardinal in the Polish hierarchy and the appointment of Wielgus had certainly met as much resistance from within the Hierarchy as it had from the faithful. Many have been left wondering how it was that Il Papa could have made such a major clerical error in relation to this appointment considering that Poland is the homeland of his immediate predecessor the late John Paul II…how indeed??
We must now await and see how this issue is handled and indeed how Il Papa will not recover from this in the credibility stakes and appoint someone with far less historical baggage…
Maybe it is also time for Rome to start renewing the whole process of collegiality as outlined in Vatican II and start giving more power and authority back to the local Church, and use this particular situation as a watershed in so doing…we live and pray in hope…and we in Ireland better pray in earnest considering the overdue appointments due in some of our Dioceses this year alone…