Text 2058, 64 rader
Skriven 2007-01-08 22:34:18 av Marc Lewis (1:396/45)
Ärende: Vatican Information Service - Press Release
===================================================
Hello All!
                This Area is READ ONLY.  Do not post to this area.
                The following press release is Copyrighted by the
                          Vatican Information Service.
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
                               VIS-Press releases

BENEDICT XVI ACCEPTS RESIGNATION OF ARCHBISHOP WIELGUS

VATICAN CITY, JAN 7, 2007 (VIS) - In a note released at midday today, the
apostolic nunciature to Poland stated that: "Metropolitan Archbishop Stanislaw
Wielgus of Warsaw, Poland, on the day in which he was scheduled to enter the
cathedral basilica to begin his pastoral ministry in the Church of Warsaw, has
presented His Holiness Benedict XVI with his resignation from canonical office,
in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

"The Holy Father has accepted the resignation of Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus
and has appointed Cardinal Jozef Glemp, primate of Poland, as diocesan
administrator of Warsaw, until further notice." The note bears the signature of
Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk, apostolic nuncio to Poland.

For his part, Holy See Press Office Director Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J.
released the following declaration to journalists today:

"Archbishop Wielgus' conduct in the past years of the communist regime in
Poland has seriously compromised his authority, even with the faithful.
Therefore, despite his humble and touching request for forgiveness, his
resignation from the see of Warsaw and its prompt acceptance on the part of the
Holy Father seemed an appropriate way to address the disorientation that has
been created in that country.

"It is a time of great suffering for a Church to which we all owe so much and
which we love. A Church that has given us pastors of the stature of Cardinal
Stefan Wyszybnski and, above all, of Pope John Paul II. The universal Church
must feel spiritually united to the Church in Poland and support her with
prayer and encouragement, so she may soon recover her serenity.

"At the same time, it must be remarked that the case of Archbishop Wielgus is
not the first and will probably not be the last time that personalities of the
Church are attacked on the basis of documentation from the security services of
the former regime. There is an enormous amount of material and, in attempting
to assess its value and draw reliable conclusions, it must not be forgotten
that it was produced by officials of an oppressive and blackmailing regime.

"So many years after the end of the communist regime, with the loss of the
great and unassailable figure of Pope John Paul II, the current wave of attacks
against the Catholic Church in Poland, rather than a sincere search for
transparency and truth, has many hallmarks of being a strange alliance between
the persecutors of the past and their adversaries, a vendetta by those who used
to persecute the Church and were defeated by the faith and the thirst for
freedom of the Polish people.

"'The truth will make you free,' says Christ. The Church is not afraid of the
truth and her members, to be faithful to their Lord, must be able to
acknowledge their own faults. We hope that the Church in Poland will be able to
live and surmount this difficult period courageously and clearly, so that she
will be able to continue to offer her precious and extraordinary contribution
of faith and evangelical energy to the Church in Europe and the world."
OP/RESIGNATION/WIELGUSVIS 070108 (530)

SUMMARY

--- MPost/386 v1.21
 * Origin: Sursum Corda! BBS =Meridian, MS= bbs.sursum-corda.com (1:396/45)