Leo XIV Appoints "Extremely Liberal" Archbishop in Poland

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Leo XIV Appoints "Extremely Liberal" Archbishop in Poland

gloria.tv | November 26, 2025

Today, Pope Leo XIV appointed Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś as the new Bishop of Kraków in Poland.

Born in Krakow in 1964, he was ordained as a priest in 1988. In 2011, Benedict XVI appointed him as an auxiliary bishop of Krakow.

Pope Francis named him archbishop of Łódź in 2017 and cardinal in September 2023.


Francis' man in Poland

Edward Pentin described Cardinal Ryś on CollegeOfCardinalsReport.com as an extremely liberal bishop and as Poland’s "Pope Francis man". "His elevation to the cardinalate was seen as a reward and encouragement for his attempts to reform Poland's conservative Church."

Pentin added that, since Ryś became a member of the Congregation for Bishops in October 2023, new bishops in Poland have been more progressive than their predecessors. Like Cardinal Ryś, they all strongly promote the Church’s new synodal way.

In October 2023, Cardinal Ryś said that opposition to Pope Francis is "completely unjust" and "always based on one or two phrases taken out of context". He repeated: "It is completely unjust how we treat Francis in our discussions."


Eucharist Must Be Synodal, Not Action of One Priest

In October 2024, Cardinal Ryś said that the liturgical reform had yet to take place. He believes that the liturgy should not be the action of one priest alone, but rather a "synodal" action involving "all".

His vision of the Eucharist is as follows: "If the liturgy has a comprehensible language, the priest is facing the congregation and new books have been published, yet the liturgy still resembles a one-person show, with only a priest present, then the reform has not taken place."

In November 2024, he told Die Tagespost that Christ founded the Church to be synodal: "Jesus gave his Church a constitution based on synodality, hierarchy, collegiality, the Petrine office, and so on."


Any Muslim Welcome in Poland

He is a champion of uncontrolled migration. In a pastoral letter dated July 2025, he wrote: "Social teaching clearly states that every person has the right to choose where to live and to be respected in that place for their beliefs, culture, language and faith."

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New archbishop of Krakow: ‘I can’t imagine any other Church than the one Pope Francis taught us’
Cdl. Grzegorz Ryś, who attributed his understanding of the Church to Pope Francis,
has been appointed archbishop of Kraków, John Paul II’s historic see.



Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś
Wikimedia Commons

Nov 27, 2025
KRAKOW, Poland (LifeSiteNews) — Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś has been named as the new archbishop of Krakow, Poland, once the seat of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II.

On November 26, the Vatican announced Pope Leo XIV’s appointment of 61-year-old Ryś as the new metropolitan archbishop of Kraków, succeeding Archbishop Marek Jędraszewski who resigned earlier this year.

“The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the metropolitan archdiocese of Kraków, presented by Bishop Marek Jędraszewski,” the Vatican announcement read.

“The Holy Father has appointed His Eminence Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś as metropolitan archbishop of Kraków, transferring him from the metropolitan see of Łódź,” it continued.

Ryś was appointed cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023 and was also made member of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.

In an interview following his acceptance of the position, Ryś attributed his understanding of the Catholic Church to Pope Francis, saying that he “discovered that I had learned everything I believe in about the Church from him.”

“And that I don’t want another Church, that I simply don’t want, I can’t imagine any other Church than the one Francis taught us,” he continued. “I don’t want another Church. I don’t want a Church that isn’t missionary. I don’t want a Church that isn’t merciful. I don’t want a Church that isn’t open, that isn’t in dialogue. I don’t want another Church. He taught me how to understand the Church.”

Ryś’s position on liturgy remains unclear. During his time as archbishop of Lodz he permitted the continuation of Latin Mass celebrations despite Traditionis Custodes. His archdiocese hosted around 12 sites where the traditional rite was offered regularly.

At the same time, according to his profile on the College of Cardinals Report, in 2021, Ryś caused uproar among Catholics when he changed the liturgy during an open-air youth event called the “Arena of Youth ‘Reset,'” part of the broader Congress of New Evangelization.

Instead of the standard penitential rite of repeating “Lord, have mercy” three times, he invited participants to confess their sins aloud or privately. Additionally, he incorporated youth-submitted intentions at the “collect” prayer.

“If Cardinal Ryś were to become Pope, he would likely devote most of his energies to his key interests of interreligious dialogue and ecumenism, minimizing the differences between Protestants and Catholics, and strongly emphasizing relations with the Jews,” the College of Cardinals Report stated