Stanisław Ryłko
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Styles of Stanisław Cardinal Ryłko |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | none |
Stanisław Cardinal Ryłko (born July 4, 1945) is a Polish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007.
[edit] Biography
Stanisław Ryłko was born in Andrychów to Władysław and Aurelia Ryłko. He has two siblings: a brother, Władysław (d. 2007), and a sister, Jadwiga. He graduated from the Lyceum of Maria Skłodowska-Curie in Andrychów in 1963 before entering the seminary in Kraków, later obtaining his licentiate in moral theology. Ryłko then traveled to Rome to study at the Pontifical Gregorian University, from where he earned his doctorate in social sciences. He was ordained to the priesthood by Karol Cardinal Wojtyła on March 30, 1969, in Wawel Cathedral, and then did pastoral work in Poronin until 1971.
Ryłko served as vice-rector of the Kraków seminary before teaching practical theology the Pontifical Theological Academy of Kraków. He was secretary of the lay apostolate commission of the Polish Episcopal Conference as well. In 1987, he returned to Rome and was charged with the section for the youth of the Pontifical Council for the Laity; during this time, he organized of the World Youth Day of 1989 and of 1991. He was then transferred to the Polish section of the Vatican Secretariat of State in 1992.
On December 20, 1995, Ryłko was appointed Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and Titular Archbishop of Novica by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on January 6, 1996 from John Paul II, with Archbishops Giovanni Re and Jorge Mejía serving as co-consecrators, in St. Peter's Basilica. As Secretary, Ryłko served as the second-highest official of that dicastery, successively under Cardinals Eduardo Pironio and James Stafford.
He was later named President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity on October 4, 2003. Upon the death of John Paul II on April 2, 2005, Ryłko and all major Vatican officials, in accord with custom, automatically lost their positions during the sede vacante. He was then confirmed as President of the Laity by Pope Benedict XVI on the following 21 April.
Pope Benedict created him Cardinal Deacon of Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re in the consistory of November 24, 2007. Ryłko remains eligible to participate in any future papal conclaves until his eightieth birthday on July 4, 2025.
Besides his native Polish, the Cardinal also speaks Italian, English, and German.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by Paul Josef Cordes |
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity 1995—2003 |
Succeeded by Josef Clemens |
| Preceded by James Stafford |
President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity 2003—present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
