Marian Franciszek Jaworski ( uk, Мар'ян Францішек Яворський, 21 August 1926 – 5 September 2020) was a

Cardinal Priest A cardinal ( la, Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae cardinalis, literally 'cardinal of the Holy Roman Church') is a senior member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. Cardinals are created by the ruling pope and typically hold the title for life. Col ...

and Archbishop of Lviv of the Latins in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

. He was a close friend of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

Biography

Early Years

Born the son of Wincenty and Stanisława Łastowiecka in Lwów,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

(''now Lviv,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

''), his family was expelled from Ukraine in 1945 when the Soviets directed a " repatriation drive" for Poles living within the former borders of Poland in the entire

Kresy Eastern Borderlands ( pl, Kresy Wschodnie) or simply Borderlands ( pl, Kresy, ) was a term coined for the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic during the History of Poland (1918–1939), interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural ...

region. Jaworski began his studies in Poland at the Lwów Major Seminary and was ordained in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

on 25 June 1950. He served as a priest for two years (1950–1952) at a parish near the Ukrainian border before returning to the Jagiellonian University to complete a Doctorate in Philosophy. He had three doctorates by 1965 – one in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

from the Jagiellonian University, and

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

s from the

Lublin Catholic University John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin ( pl, Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II, la, Universitas Catholica Lublinensis Ioannis Pauli II, abbreviation KUL), established in 1918. It is the only private college in Poland with the s ...

and

Warsaw Theological Academy Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

Later career

Jaworski was a professor for several years at the

and later at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Kraków. He also lectured in

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

and the

philosophy of religion Philosophy of religion is "the philosophical examination of the central themes and concepts involved in religious traditions". Philosophical discussions on such topics date from ancient times, and appear in the earliest known texts concerning ph ...

at the seminaries of various religious orders. From 1981 to 1987 he was the first rector of the Pontifical Theological Academy of Kraków. He lived near

Karol Wojtyla Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

at that time. When Wojtyla was appointed archbishop of the Krakow Archdiocese in 1964, Jaworski was given an apartment in the archbishop's residence. In 1970, he was made secretary of the Polish Bishops' Scientific Council, a role he held until 1984. Jaworski was Dean of the Pontifical Theological Faculty in Kraków from 1976 to 1981.

Episcopacy

On 21 May 1984, Pope John Paul II appointed Jaworski the titular bishop of Lambaesis and apostolic administrator of Lubaczów, receiving episcopal ordination on 23 June 1984. At the time, Pope John Paul II was not able to appoint a new archbishop for Lviv due to Soviet interference. John Paul II asked Jaworski to be the administrator of the archdiocese temporarily from Lubaczow, Poland. Jaworski was then appointed apostolic administrator of

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukrain ...

for territories within Poland in May 1984 and was consecrated

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

on 23 June. When the Soviet Union fell, Jaworski was named Archbishop of Lviv by John Paul II on 16 January 1991. Jaworski set about rebuilding the diocese left shattered by 45 years of communist oppression. In 1992, Cardinal Jaworski was elected president of the Latin Church Bishops' conference for Ukraine.

Cardinalate

At the consistory of 21 February 1998, Jaworski was created Cardinal by

John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

'' in pectore'', one of four such secret cardinal appointments he made while pope; Jaworski's cardinalate was made public at the consistory of 21 February 2001. He was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the soverei ...

. He surpassed the age of 80 in 2006, losing the right to participate in future conclaves. In October 2008, Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation as archbishop.

Death

Cardinal Jaworski died two weeks after his 94th birthday in 2020. In his condolence letter, Pope Francis recalled Jaworkski's deep friendship with John Paul II, and his close collaboration, as a theologian and philosopher, with Pope Benedict XVI. For his part, Pope Francis said that Jaworski’s cardinalate was announced in 2001, at the same consistory where he, at the time, Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, was also created a Cardinal.

Publications

*''The Philosophy of Person: Solidarity and Cultural Creativity'', Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, Series IVA, Vol. 1 (2005).

References

External links

*
Biography at catholic-pages.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaworski, Marian 1926 births 2020 deaths Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw alumni People from Lwów Voivodeship Catholic philosophers 21st-century Polish cardinals Jagiellonian University alumni John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin alumni Polish diaspora in Ukraine Archbishops of Lviv Cardinals created by Pope John Paul II Polish amputees 20th-century Polish cardinals Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class