The appointment of Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś as the new Archbishop of Kraków on Wednesday was more than a routine episcopal transition — it is a clear statement about the direction of Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate. Ryś has long stood out within the Polish hierarchy for his pastoral warmth, historical depth, and transparent embrace of the synodal vision championed by Pope Francis. By placing him in Kraków, one of the most symbolically noteworthy sees in the global Catholic Church, Pope Leo is signaling unmistakable continuity with the Francis era.
Ryś has been widely recognized for years as the most synodally minded bishop in Poland. The College of Cardinals Report says he “is seen in Poland as an extremely progressive bishop, as Poland’s ‘Pope Francis man.’” — not because he rejects doctrine, but because he consistently grounds his ministry in dialogue, missionary outreach, and pastoral closeness. That reputation spread nationally in 2023, when he gave an interview to Gerard O’Connell of America Magazine in which he criticized the way some Polish Catholics misinterpreted Pope Francis and argued that opposition to the pope was “always based on one or two phrases taken out of context.” In a country where several bishops openly expressed discomfort with Francis’s priorities, Ryś’s candid defense of the pope set him apart.
His synodal approach has always been lived, not merely theorized. As Archbishop of Łódź, Ryś organized diocesan structures around listening, co-responsibility, and discernment. In an OSV News article last year, Paulina Guzik described a gathering where Ryś warned that “the church of ‘we’ saves the community from clerical narcissism” and stressed that episcopal ministry must be converted to relationship — with God, fellow bishops, priests, and the people of God. He affirmed Pope Francis’s statement that, “Who does not accept mercy from God is an atheist. At most a disguised Christian.” Vatican News likewise highlighted the depth of his synodal theology when it covered a Jubilee catechesis in which he reflected on the balance between “I” and “we,” unity and diversity, stability and mission, and ultimately calling the Church to become “a poor Church for the poor.”
Pope Francis recognized these qualities early. In 2017 he appointed Ryś Metropolitan Archbishop of Łódź — a significant elevation for an auxiliary bishop. In 2020, Francis entrusted him with the troubled Diocese of Kalisz as apostolic administrator “sede plena,” an indication from Pope Francis of his confidence in Ryś’s trustworthiness and capability. In November 2020, Francis appointed him to the Congregation for Bishops, involving him directly in the delicate task of evaluating and selecting future Church leaders. Appointed to the Congregation on the same day was the then-bishop of the Peruvian Diocese of Chiclayo, Robert Prevost. In 2023, Bishop Prevost would be named prefect of the renamed Dicastery for Bishops and made a cardinal (again alongside Ryś) by Pope Francis, so it is safe to say that Pope Leo is very familiar with Cardinal Ryś’s approach and understanding of the Church.
All this made his 2023 elevation to the College of Cardinals both striking and symbolically charged. When Aleteia reported on the appointment, it emphasized that Ryś became the first member of the Polish bishops’ conference whom Francis had made a cardinal, breaking long-standing expectations that Kraków or Warsaw would receive the red hat. Even Ryś himself admitted that he was “shocked” to be chosen.
This entire trajectory prepares the ground for Pope Leo XIV’s decision to send him to Kraków. Commentator Austen Ivereigh underscored the significance when he called Ryś “Mr. Synod” among the Polish bishops. Now the most synodally oriented bishop in Poland will lead the archdiocese once shepherded by St. John Paul II — a potent symbolic move that weds deep Catholic tradition to renewed pastoral vision.
This is not merely administrative continuity. It is structural continuity. Ryś embodies the core priorities of the Francis era: missionary discipleship, a listening Church, relational leadership, and trust in the Holy Spirit working through the whole people of God. Pope Leo XIV, by placing Ryś in Kraków, has affirmed that these priorities are not relics of the previous pontificate. They are the foundation of the Church’s present and future. If anyone wondered whether the synodal path would continue under Pope Leo, the appointment of Cardinal Ryś offers the clearest answer possible. The project is not slowing down — it is deepening.
Image: By Adam Walanus – http://www.adamwalanus.pl/, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62076424
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
Popular Posts