Abstract

More than 75 years afer Stefan Wyszyński took over the function of Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw and Primate of Poland, not all the circumstances of this nomination are fully known. However, it can already be said that there are fewer and fewer blank spots in this story. Te fndings to date allow us to claim that this was the wish of Primate August Hlond expressed to the secretary, later bishop, Fr. Antoni Baraniak , whom he instructed to write a request in this matter to Pius XII. Pope Pius XII made the decision to nominate Bishop Wyszyński on 12 November, and signed the bull of nomination on 16 November 1948. On that day, Monsignor Domenico Tardini from the Secretariat of State informed Bishop Wyszyński of the nomination by letter. A letter, recently discovered in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Warsaw, from Stefan Wyszyński to Pius XII, dated January 1, 1949, allows us to precisely indicate when the bishop-nominee fnally agreed to accept the nomination. Tis happened on December 31, 1948, afer a conversation with Bishop Michał Klepacz, who had returned from the Vatican, and reading the letter he had brought from the Secretariat of State. Information about the consent was immediately passed on to the Secretariat of State by telephone. Te following day, January 1, 1949, Archbishop-nominee Wyszyński in Lublin wrote a letter to Pius XII, explaining at length why he had hesitated to accept the nomination. It is striking in the humility and modesty of a man who turned out to be one of the greatest bishops in the history of the Church in Poland.