Stefan Wyszynski

Polish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on 12 January 1953 by Pope Pius XII as the Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria in Trastevere. He assumed the title of Primate of Poland. Stefan Wyszynski was often called the Primate of the Millennium. The case for his beatification and canonization opened in 1989 (he had the title of Servant of God when the cause commenced) and has many proponents in the Vatican and in his native Poland, where he is well known for his heroic and principled stand against Nazism and Communism, and because of his connections to Pope John Paul II (he played a key role in urging then-Cardinal Wojtyla to accept his election as Supreme Pontiff). Pope Francis named him as Venerable on 18 December 2017 upon confirming his heroic virtue. To many he was the unquestionable leader of Polish nation (the uncrowned king of Poland), in opposition to the totalitarian government. He is also credited for the survival of Polish Christianity in the face of its repression and persecution during the reign of the 1945-1989 Communist regime. He himself was imprisoned for three years, and is considered by many to be a Polish national hero.