Home » News » Henryk Gulbinowicz is dead. The cardinal and former metropolitan of Wrocław was 97 years old

Henryk Gulbinowicz is dead. The cardinal and former metropolitan of Wrocław was 97 years old

Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz is dead. The former metropolitan of Wrocław was in hospital. He was 97 years old.

“Today in the morning, at the age of 97, Cardinal Henryk Gulbinowicz has passed away to you” – wrote on the official profile of the Polish Episcopal Conference on Twitter. As added, the official communication of the Archdiocese of Wrocław on this subject will be published in the afternoon.

Cardinal forbidden to participate in celebrations and use insignia

Last Friday the apostolic nunciature in Poland informedthat the Vatican decided against the former metropolitan of Wrocław to “prohibit participation in any public celebrations or meetings and the use of bishop’s insignia.” It was said that this happened “as a result of an investigation into the accusations made against Cardinal Gulbinowicz and after considering other allegations against the cardinal.”

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The 97-year-old hierarch was also deprived of the right to a funeral service in the cathedral and a burial in the cathedral. He was also ordered to pay “a certain amount of money as a donation for the activities of the Saint Joseph Foundation established by the Polish Bishops’ Conference to support the Church’s activities for victims of sexual abuse, psychological assistance, and prevention and education of persons responsible for the protection of minors”.

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Archbishop Gulbinowicz forbidden to use bishop’s insignia. Announcement of the Apostolic Nunciature TVN24

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Ordination by Cardinal Wyszyński, opposition card

Henryk Gulbinowicz was born on October 17, 1923 in the Vilnius Region. In 1944 he began his studies at the Metropolitan Higher Theological Seminary in Vilnius, transferred to Białystok in 1945, where in June 1950 he was ordained a priest.

In February 1970, he was ordained bishop by Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński. In January 1976, he was appointed metropolitan archbishop of Wrocław after the late Cardinal Bolesław Kominek. In 1981, after the imposition of martial law, he founded the Archbishop’s Charity Committee in the capital of Lower Silesia, with the task of caring for internees, prisoners and the poor. Oppositionists were hiding and meeting in the archdiocese’s buildings. There, 80 million zlotys of contributions from members of the Lower Silesian Solidarity were deposited, which the union members paid out from the bank before December 13th.

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Henryk GulbinowiczJacek Turczyk / PAP

He worked in three Vatican Congregations

He was the chairman of the organizing committee of the 46th International Eucharistic Congress in Wrocław in 1997. He also participated in the work of the Polish episcopate. In the years 1977-1987 he was a professor of moral theology and the Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Wrocław.

He also worked in the Vatican Congregations: for the Clergy, for the Eastern Churches and for the Evangelization of Nations. He participated in the work of the 8th ordinary session of the World Synod of Bishops in the Vatican. He held the position of Wrocław metropolitan until he reached retirement age, until 2004.

Cardinal Gulbinowicz is an honorary doctor of three Wrocław universities, including the Pontifical Faculty of Theology. He is an Honorary Citizen of Lower Silesia, Laureate of the Children’s Heart Award and the 641st Knight of the Order of the Smile. In February 2009, the cardinal was awarded the Order of the White Eagle.

tvn24.pl, Polish Bishops’ Conference, PAP

photo-source">Main photo source: Jacek Turczyk / PAP

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