„Bądźcie spokojni o losy Akademii Teologii Katolickiej” – Kardynał Stefan Wyszyński a nasza Alma Mater

• Authors: Lewandowski Jerzy , Kaczmarski Hubert

Title variants

EN

“Do not fear for the future of The Academy of Catholic Theology”: Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński and Our Alma Mater

DE

„Macht Euch keine Sorgen um die Zukunft der Katholischen Theologischen Akademie“ – Kardinal Stefan Wyszyński und unsere Alma Mater

FR

“Ne vous inquiétez pas au destin de l’Académie de la Théologie catholique” – Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński et notre Alma Mater

• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

At first, the authors describe complex history of the Academy of Catholic Theology in Warsaw founded in 1954 by arbitrary decision of the communist government in Poland. At that time Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski was arrested and held in a place of internment which was closely guarded by the state authorities. The issues of the canonicity of University began to clarify in the late fifties of the twentieth century, thanks to strong involvement of the Primate of the Millennium. These issues are summarized by Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski’s (now Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education) quote from his speech. When on 12 October 1998 he was receiving his honoris causa of the Academy of Catholic Theology he said: When in 1954 this Academy was established on the basis of a resolution of the Council of Ministers as a state theological university, it was probably, in the intentions of the communist authorities who programmed atheism and fight religion to act as a Trojan horse in the Church. I think many people of the Church remembered back then the words of Laocoon from Virgil’s Aeneid: “Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes” - (I fear the Greeks even when they bring gifts). Academy of Catholic Theology, however, did not let to its instrumentalization and deception, it did not allow to enslave, but has become a genuine university and a serious study of the theological sciences, it has become a brave defender of freedom of thought and a pioneer of the contemporary reality thought of our country, it has made an undeniable contribution to Polish culture and Polish science. The authors also brought out from the very rich legacy of Cardinal speeches the text presented at the ACT in 1976. Primate then said: the reality is that if God is love, then the whole of humanization is a form of penetration of everyday life with the forces of love of the Creator, it is benefiting it from Him and transmitting it to man - as Christ did. Today, we have a good example of such behavior. It is the St. Francis of Assisi, whose 750th anniversary of death we are considering this year. [...] Francis is very current for our times. He carried out the Gospel and humanized human life with it and the Gospel is always valid for the humanization of human life.These words became even more meaningful after 13 March 2013, when Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina was elected for pope and chose the name Francis. When in the end of the nineties ACT began transforming into a university-level facility, the name of the future of the University and its patron considered various possibilities. During one discussion a proposal was made: Primate of the Millennium. Everyone agreed to that proposal. It was recognized that the election of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski as the Patron of the University will put before a new task of restoration the University and its permanent preservation in the Polish society awareness of the person and the work of Cardinal Wyszynski, his role in the postwar period, during extremely difficult times. In its name the University refers to a great patriot and a statesman of the Church, as well as an outstanding figure of Polish history.

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie
• Journal: Studia Theologica Varsaviensia
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 51
• Issue: 1 - Numer Jubileuszowy 1963-2013
• Pages: 79-88

Contributors

author

Lewandowski Jerzy

• WT UKSW

author

Kaczmarski Hubert

• WT UKSW

References

• Kardynał Stefan Wyszyński – Prymas Polski. Veritatem facientes in caritate, A. F. Dziuba (red.), Warszawa 2006.

Identifiers

ISSN

0585-5594