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Stanisław Ryłko

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His Eminence
Stanisław Cardinal Ryłko
Cardinal, Archpriest Emeritus of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
File:Stanisław Ryłko (2018).jpg
Appointed 28 December 2016
Term ended 4 July 2025
Predecessor Santos Abril y Castelló
Successor Rolandas Makrickas
Other post Cardinal-Priest of Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re "pro hac vice"
Previous posts Titular Archbishop of Novica (1995–2007)
Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (1995–2003)
President of the Pontifical Council for the Laity (2003–2016)
Orders
Ordination 30 March 1969
by Karol Józef Wojtyła (later Pope John Paul II)
Consecration 6 January 1996
by Pope John Paul II
Created cardinal 24 November 2007
by Pope Benedict XVI
Rank Cardinal-Priest
Personal details
Born Stanisław Ryłko
4 July 1945
Andrychów, Poland
Denomination Roman Catholic
Motto Lux Mea Christus
(Christ, My Light)

Stanisław Marian Ryłko (born 4 July 1945) is a Polish cardinal of the Catholic Church. He held positions in the Roman Curia beginning in 1987 and was president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity from 2003 to 2016. He was made a cardinal in 2007. He was Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore from 2016 to 2025.

Besides his native Polish, he speaks Italian, English, and German.

Early life and pastoral work

Stanisław Ryłko was born on 4 July 1945 in Andrychów[1] to Władysław and Aurelia Ryłko. He has two siblings: a brother, Władysław (d. 2007), and a sister, Jadwiga Krasoń.[2] He graduated from the Lyceum of Maria Skłodowska-Curie in Andrychów in 1963.[3] He entered the seminary in Kraków in 1963 and earned his licentiate in moral theology Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Krakow in 1971.[4] He was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Karol Wojtyła (later Pope John Paul II) on 30 March 1969 in Wawel Cathedral, and then did pastoral work in Poronin until 1971.[5]

Beginning in 1972 Ryłko studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University,[4] where he earned his doctorate in social sciences in 1978. He was then vice-rector of the Kraków seminary and taught practical theology at the Pontifical Theological Academy of Kraków from 1978 to 1987. From 1979 on he was secretary of the lay apostolate commission of the Polish Episcopal Conference as well.[4][1] In 1987, he returned to Rome and headed the youth section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity for five years, which included organizing World Youth Day events of 1989 and 1991.[4][5] He was transferred to the Polish section of the Vatican Secretariat of State in 1992.[4]

Bishop

On 20 December 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed Ryłko secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and Titular Bishop of Novica.[6] He received his episcopal consecration on 6 January 1996 from John Paul II,[7] with Archbishops Giovanni Re and Jorge Mejía serving as co-consecrators. As secretary, Ryłko served as the second-highest official of that council under Eduardo Francisco Pironio and James Stafford.[4]

On 11 January 1996 he was named a member of the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People and on 22 February a consultant to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.[8]

He was named president of the Pontifical Council for the Laity on 4 October 2003.[9] Following the death of John Paul II on 2 April 2005, Pope Benedict XVI confirmed Ryłko in that position on 21 April 2005.[10]

Cardinal

In the consistory of 24 November 2007, Pope Benedict made him Cardinal-Deacon of Sacro Cuore di Cristo Re.[11]

On 12 June 2008 Benedict appointed him a member of several departments in the Roman Curia: the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, the Congregation for Bishops, and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.[12] In November 2008, in an address to the plenary assembly of the Congregation for the Laity, Ryłko said that the time has come for Christians to free themselves from their false inferiority complex against the so-called secular world, to be courageous disciples of Christ.[13]

On 5 January 2011 he was named one of the first members of the new Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation.[14] On 10 March 2015, Pope Francis appointed Rylko a Member of the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses.[15]

His tenure as head of the Pontifical Council on the Laity ended on 1 September 2016 when its functions were taken over by the new Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life.[16]

On 28 December 2016, Pope Francis appointed Rylko Archpriest of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.[17] On 11 August 2018, he was named a member of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.[18]

Rylko participated as a cardinal elector in the 2013 papal conclave that elected Pope Francis[19] and the 2025 papal conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.[20]

References

  1. Back to citation occurrence 1.0 Back to citation occurrence 1.1 Dobrzyniak, Magdalena (31 March 2019). "Kard. Stanisław Ryłko obchodzi 50. rocznicę święceń kapłańskich". Gosc (in Polish). Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  2. Back to citation Gawęda, Mirosław (30 November 2007). "Kardynał z ulicy Krakowskiej" [A Cardinal from Krakowska Street]. Dziennik Polski (in Polish). Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  3. Back to citation Borutka, Tadeusz; Ciapka, Adam (2024). "Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko – a Priest and a Highly Regarded Siciologist". The Person and the Challenges. 14 (1): 243–56. Retrieved 16 April 2025.
  4. Back to citation occurrence 4.0 Back to citation occurrence 4.1 Back to citation occurrence 4.2 Back to citation occurrence 4.3 Back to citation occurrence 4.4 Back to citation occurrence 4.5 "President: H.E. Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko". Pontifical Council for the Laity. 22 March 2024. Archived from the original on 10 June 2023.
  5. Back to citation occurrence 5.0 Back to citation occurrence 5.1 "ODPUST I ZŁOTY JUBILEUSZ KAPŁAŃSTWA KARDYNAŁA STANISŁAWA RYŁKO W PORONINIE". Archdiocese of Krakow (in Polish). 22 July 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  6. Back to citation Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXXVIII. 1996. pp. 125, 128. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  7. Back to citation "Złoty jubileusz kapłaństwa ks. kard. Stanisława Ryłki" [Golden jubilee of the priesthood of Fr. Cardinal Stanisław Ryłka] (in Polish). 31 March 2019. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  8. Back to citation Acta Apostolicae Sedis (PDF). Vol. LXXXVIII. 1996. pp. 224, 360. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  9. Back to citation "Bishop Rylko Is New President of Laity Council". Zenit. 5 October 2003. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  10. Back to citation "Nomine e Confirme nella Curia Romana, 22.04.2005" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 21 April 2005. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  11. Back to citation Allen Jr., John L. (24 November 2007). "Day Two: The Consistory of the Long-Suffering". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  12. Back to citation "Papal Appointments Give Prelates Multiple Tasks". Zenit. 12 June 2008. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  13. Back to citation "Cardinale Ryłko: i cristiani si liberino dai complessi di inferiorità" (in Italian). ZENIT. 14 November 2008. Archived from the original on 29 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  14. Back to citation "Rinunce e Nomine, 05.01.2011" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 10 January 2011. Archived from the original on 10 January 2011. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  15. Back to citation "Rinunce e nomine, 10.03.2015" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 10 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  16. Back to citation Wooden, Cindy (17 August 2016). "Pope names Dallas bishop head of new office for laity, family, life". National Catholic Reporter. Catholic News Service. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  17. Back to citation "Rinunce e nomine, 28.12.2016" (in Italian). Vatican Press Office. 28 December 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  18. Back to citation "Nomina di Membro della Pontificia Commissione per lo Stato della Città del Vaticano" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 August 2018.
  19. Back to citation "List of Cardinal Electors". Zenit. 12 March 2013. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  20. Back to citation "Cardinal Electors". Catholic-Hierarchy.org. 6 May 2025. Archived from the original on 6 May 2025. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
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