Two Bishops of Krakow, Two Books, and Two Conclaves - To Keep in Mind
The most discussed points in the autobiography of Karol Wojtyla. And new revelations on the "Polish plot" in the conclave of 1903, led by the cardinal of Krakow at the time
by Sandro Magister
ROMA - "Get Up, Let Us Go!", the autobiography of John Paul II on his twenty years as a bishop in Krakow, available since May 18 in various languages (but not in English) has been read with great attention both within and outside of the Vatican. It has been the object of interesting comments. And here are some of them.
THE TWO CARDINALS
There are many cardinals Karol Wojtyla cites in his book, but attention falls on the two most famous ones: Carlo Maria Martini and Joseph Ratzinger.
The first appears suddenly on a page in which Wojtyla reflects upon the role of the bishop as a teacher. The pope recalls Martini´s "catechesis in the cathedral of his city," which "attracted multitudes of persons, to whom he revealed the treasure of the Word of God." In reality, these catecheses characterized only the first years of Martini´s episcopacy in Milan, who later preferred to dedicate himself to what he called "the teaching of the non-believers," an open discussion with intellectuals at various distances from the Christian faith. John Paul II is careful to make no reference to this second form of Martini´s teaching office.
But the pope recalls all of Ratzinger´s accomplishments. In conclusion, he writes: "I give thanks to God for the presence and help of cardinal Ratzinger, who is a trusted friend." Wojtyla calls no one else in the book a "trusted friend." The name of Ratzinger has been decisively advancing for some time in the list of the possible future candidates for the papacy.
THE SELF-CRITICAL "PERHAPS"
There is a self-criticism in the book on the point of authority. Wojtyla writes: "The faculty of admonition also certainly belongs to the role of the pastor. I think that, in terms of this, I have perhaps done too little. There exists always a problem of equilibrium between authority and service. Perhaps I should rebuke myself for not having tried hard enough to command."
But he doesn´t seem very convinced of this. A few lines later, he absolves himself: "In spite of the interior resistance I feel for the act of rebuking, I think I have made all of the necessary decisions."
Weakness in the ordinary oversight of the Church is one of the most recurrent criticisms against the pontificate of John Paul II.
ASIA, THE NEW FRONTIER
Wojtyla writes, after having recalled one of his papal visits to Manila: "I had all of Asia before my eyes. So many Christians! And so many millions of people who, on that continent, still do not know Christ! I place great hope in the dynamic Church of the Philippines and Korea. Asia: this is our common task for the third millennium!".
Wojtyla does not cite India, which during the last few years has given him more grief than hope. In effect, it is in India that the theology of religious pluralism has set down roots, a movement destructive of missionary propagation and considered highly dangerous by "trusted friend" Ratzinger. On the contrary, the Philippines and South Korea are the theater of a popular Catholicism that is doctrinally disciplined, morally demanding, and strongly expansionary, capable of rivaling "evangelical" Protestantism, which is also growing rapidly in East Asia.
THREE CHEERS FOR THE MOVEMENTS - BUT NOT SANT´EGIDIO
In "Get Up, Let Us Go!", Wojtyla cites six Catholic movements that are dear to him. Going by the number of lines and the warmth of praise given to each, they are, in order of the most appreciated:
- The Oasis Movement, founded by Polish Fr. Franciszek Blachnicki;
- The Work of Mary, or Focolare, founded by Chiara Lubich;
- Opus Dei, founded by St. Josémaria Escrivá de Balaguer;
- The Neocatechumenal Way, headed by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hernández;
- Communion and Liberation, of Fr. Luigi Giussani;
- L´Arche and Foi et Lumière, founded by France´s Jean Vanier
Wojtyla is silent about other movements: "it is not possible to list them all." But his silence is striking when it comes to the Legionaries of Christ and especially the Community of Sant´Egidio. Evidently the closeness to the pope acclaimed at every possible occasion by Andrea Riccardi and other leaders of this community is weaker than they say.
NOT A SINGLE LINE ABOUT HIS VOYAGES
Another deafening silence is that surrounding the voyages Wojtyla made outside his diocese as bishop of Krakow. "I have always liked to travel," he admits. But he dedicates not even a line to saying where he went, and when, during those twenty years. Vice-versa, he dedicates ample space to recommending to the bishops of the whole world - to whom the book is substantially addressed - to "stay with their people" in that "bishop´s house" that is the diocese: "He should not leave it for a period of time longer than a month, behaving instead like a good father of a family who is always with his own."
In reality, Wojtyla was frequently far away from his diocese. In 1976, for example, he spent forty-five consecutive days in Canada and the United States, to publicize his major philosophical work, "The Acting Person," and to rewrite the English version in the country house of his editor, Anna-Teresa Tymienecka, in Vermont.
And that´s not all. In February of the same year, having been asked to preach the Lenten retreat at the Vatican, he retired for twenty days to the mountains to prepare his meditations, in a convent of Ursuline sisters, where "I wrote the meditations until midday, went skiing in the afternoon, and in the evening went back to writing." Twenty days plus ten spent preaching in Rome make thirty, and with the forty-five in North America they come to seventy-five. Unsatisfied, Wojtyla returned to Rome for another week in March and April of 1976, to give conferences on philosophy. Then he was back in Rome and Genoa in September, for the same reason. Then again in Rome, in November, at the international congress of Catholic universities. It comes to a total of almost three months away from Krakow, in the span of a single year.
And One Hundred Years Earlier, His Predecessor Puzyna...So much for comments on "Get Up, Let Us Go!". But another book, which it is natural to read in parallel, was released in Rome at the same time. One of its protagonists is a predecessor of Wojtyla in Krakow, Jan Cardinal Puzyna, the prince of Kozielsko.
The book´s author is Luciano Trincia, a history teacher at Albert-Ludwigs-Universität of Freibourg, in Brisgovia. The preface is by Giorgio Rumi, a Church historian at the University of Milan and an editorialist for "L´Osservatore Romano." It is entitled: "The Conclave and Political Power: The Rampolla Veto in the System of European Powers, 1887-1904." And it includes in the appendix, published for the first time, the official diary of the conclave of 1903, which elected Pius X, written by the secretary of the conclave, the future cardinal secretary of state Rafael Merry del Val.
In "Get Up, Let Us Go!", Wojtyla on two occasions cites Puzyna, the archbishop of Krakow from 1895 to 1911.
The first time, he cites him as the antecedent of his own episcopal consecration: "a link in the chain of apostolic succession" and an exponent "of the tradition of sanctity of these great pastors of the Church."
The second time he mentions him is in connection with Adam Cardinal Sapieha, the archbishop of Krakow who ordained Wojtyla to the priesthood in 1946. Outlining the biography of Sapieha, John Paul II writes:
"He served in the Vatican during the papacy of Pius X, carrying out the office of ´cameriere segreto partecipante´. During that period, he did a great deal for the Polish cause. In 1912, he was nominated as bishop, intended for the see of Krakow, and was consecrated personally by Pius X."
Why did the newly elected Pius X summon that Polish priest to him in the Vatican? And why did the pope reward him by promoting him to the see of Krakow? The answer lies in the book on the conclave of 1903.
In that conclave, the cardinal of Krakow, Puzyna, vetoed the election as pope of the candidate who had received the most votes in the first rounds, Mariano Cardinal Rampolla del Tindaro, Leo XIII´s secretary of state.
And he cast his veto at the bidding of the Austro-Hungarian emperor, Francis Joseph. Puzyna read aloud the imperial diktat in Latin, to the indignation of the cardinals, who nonetheless complied. Rampolla left the scene. And, in his place, Georg Cardinal Kopp, the archbishop of Breslau, spokesman of German emperor William II, brought forward the candidate desired by the central empires: "Sarto: proceed immediately." Giuseppe Sarto was the patriarch of Venice. He was elected and took the name Pius X. Giorgio Rumi writes in the book´s preface: "Sarto was not the expedient for religious innocence and political neutrality. He was the candidate of Berlin and Vienna, and not the good and meek parish priest as depicted by so many apologists."
But what prompted Francis Joseph to make that veto, which was in his power? A first motive was the pro-French orientation of cardinal Rampolla, which was displeasing to the central empires. But there was also a "Polish plot at work in circles linked to cardinal Puzyna." The plotters were averse to another aspect of Rampolla´s politics: he was seen as favorable toward the interests of tsarist Russia, and thus disastrous for the Church in Poland.
Luciano Trincia writes:
"Some sources report that the initiative of the veto began from these Polish Catholic circles and was formally requested of Puzyna by the emperor. [...] The thesis of the Polish origin of the veto against Rampolla circulated until recent years in the diocese that belonged to cardinal Puzyna. [...] In March of 1984, the [present] archbishop of Krakow, Franciszek Macharski, held forth on this argument with a German scholar, a professor of dogmatic theology, [Georg Schwaiger,] maintaining once again the thesis that Puzyna had proceeded to the veto in order to prevent the introduction of Russian into the liturgy of Polish and Lithuanian Catholics. [...] ´Austria didn´t use me; I used Austria,´ Puzyna confided after pronouncing the last veto of exclusion from the papacy in history."
With the archbishops of Krakow, there are wheels within wheels. Cardinal Puzyna cast a veto in the conclave, and the pro-Russian candidate for the papacy was eliminated. Cardinal Wojtyla was made pope, and the empire of communist Russia fell. But he still faces the Orthodox Church of Moscow, which is implacably hostile toward its Polish historical enemy, and this is the most serious failure of this pontificate. The cardinals have made a note of it for the next conclave.
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The books:
Giovanni Paolo II, "Alzatevi, andiamo!", Mondadori, Milano, 2004, pp. 192, euro 15,00.
Luciano Trincia, "Conclave e potere politico. Il veto a Rampolla nel sistema delle potenze europee, 1887-1904", Edizioni Studium, Roma, 2004, pp. 322, euro 23,00.__________
On this website, on Wojtyla´s episcopacy in Krakow:
> Twenty Years as a Bishop, Recounted by Karol Wojtyla as Pope (14.5.2004)
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English translation by Matthew Sherry:
> traduttore@hotmail.comGo to the home page of
> www.chiesa.espressonline.it/english, to access the latest articles and links to other resources.
Sandro Magister´s e-mail address is
s.magister@espressoedit.it
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27.5.2004
