Vatican City, Dec 6, 2006 / 22:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Jozef Glemp, Archbishop of Warsaw, who at nearly 77 years, has passed the age of retirement. As his successor the Holy Father appointed Bishop Stanislaw Wojciech Wielgus of Plock.
In a letter accepting the cardinal’s resignation, Pope Benedict thanked him for his 25 years of service at the helm of the Archdiocese of Warsaw.
Cardinal Glemp’s successor, Bishop Wielgus, was born in 1939 and was ordained a priest on June 10, 1962. From 1969 until his episcopal ordination he was a professor at the Department of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Lublin.
Since 1989 he has been rector of the Catholic University of Lublin. On May 24, 1999, he was named Bishop of Plock.
The Warsaw archdiocese has an overall population of 1.5 million, of whom over 1.4 million are Catholic. There are 1,076 priests, 3,011 religious and three auxiliary bishops in the archdiocese.
By decree of the Holy Father, Cardinal Glemp will remain the Primate of Poland until he reaches the age of 80.