Wyszynski, Stefan (stĕ`fän vĭzĭn`skē), 1901–81, Polish prelate, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. Ordained in 1924, he received (1929) a doctorate in sociology and canon law from the Catholic Univ. of Lublin. He was active in the resistance during World War II. In 1946 he was consecrated bishop of Lublin. Pope Pius XII made Wyszynski archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw and primate of Poland in 1949 and then a cardinal in 1953. A fierce opponent of the Polish Stalinist government's efforts to limit church influence, he was arrested and imprisoned (1953–56). In 1956, Wyszynski was restored to his functions by the new anti-Stalinist first secretary of the Communist party, Władysław Gomułka. A church-state agreement restoring religious education in state schools followed. Despite periodic setbacks, he subsequently enjoyed a considerable amount of personal and pastoral liberty. In 1962 he served as president of the Second Vatican Council.

Wyszynski, Stefan

(born Aug. 3, 1901, Zuzela, near Lomza, Pol., Russian Empire—died May 28, 1981, Warsaw, Pol.) Polish cardinal and primate of Poland. Ordained in 1924, he was assigned to the basilica at Wloclawek. He founded and directed the Christian Workers University (1935–39), then joined the Polish resistance in World War II. He was appointed successively bishop of Lublin (1946), primate of Poland (1948), and cardinal (1952). For refusing to consent to communist demands, he was placed under house arrest (1953–56). After his release, he reached a compromise on church and state matters with Wladyslaw Gomulka that avoided a potential Soviet invasion of Poland, and he thereafter maintained the unity of the church in an uneasy coexistence with the communist government. He later lent cautious support to such Polish movements as the Workers' Defense Committee, Solidarity, and Rural Solidarity, which sought greater freedom from the late 1970s onward. A doctrinal conservative, his last major act was to negotiate with the Polish authorities over the visit of Pope John Paul II to Poland in 1979.