Church loses bright light in Archbishop Zycinski

A leading voice in the Church was lost Thursday Feb. 10th. with the death of Archbishop Jozef Zycinski, a philosopher, theologian and teacher. 

He died in Rome, most probably of a brain haemorrhage. He was 62.

Zycinski's sparkling intellect was always much in demand. Besides being a regular speaker across Poland, he also lectured abroad at Oxford and Berkeley universities amongst others.

A regular contributor to leading progressive journals such as Znak and Tygodnik Powszechny, he also wrote for the liberal daily Gazeta Wyborcza. He was seen as a voice of constructive dialogue.

“He was a face of the the Polish Church,” reflected Father Adam Boniecki, editor-in-chief of Tygodnik Powszechny. “Listening to him, many people breathed a sigh of relief that one can think in this way.”

Zycinski served as Archbishop of Lublin from 1997-2011. 

This remains a key see in the Polish Catholic Church. As an intellectual, it suited Zycinski well. 

The Catholic University of Lublin enjoys considerable prestige, having endured as a beacon of comparatively free learning in the communist years.

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