A leading voice in the Church was lost Thursday Feb. 10th. with the death of
Archbishop Jozef Zycinski, a philosopher, theologian and teacher.
He
died in Rome, most probably of a brain haemorrhage. He was 62.
Zycinski's
sparkling intellect was always much in demand. Besides being a regular
speaker across Poland, he also lectured abroad at Oxford and Berkeley
universities amongst others.
A regular contributor to leading progressive journals such as Znak and Tygodnik Powszechny, he also wrote for the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza. He was seen as a voice of constructive dialogue.
“He was a face of the the Polish Church,” reflected Father Adam Boniecki, editor-in-chief of Tygodnik Powszechny. “Listening to him, many people breathed a sigh of relief that one can think in this way.”
Zycinski
served as Archbishop of Lublin from 1997-2011.
This remains a key see
in the Polish Catholic Church. As an intellectual, it suited Zycinski
well.
The Catholic University of Lublin enjoys considerable prestige,
having endured as a beacon of comparatively free learning in the
communist years.
Source