VATICAN: The long-time personal secretary of Pope John Paul was named yesterday as the new Archbishop of Krakow, the position held by Karol Wojtyla before he became pontiff.
The Vatican said Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz (66) would replace the popular Cardinal Franciszek Macharski (78), who asked to retire three years ago due to his age but stayed on at the request of John Paul.
Dr Dziwisz - who cradled the Pope in his arms after an assassination attempt in 1981, and whose constant presence at his side saw him called the pontiff's "shadow" - said he accepted the appointment "in the spirit of obedience and with great humility."
"I am aware of the great responsibility and the great heritage of the Krakow church from the times of St Stanislaw, bishop and martyr, to the last moments of the great pontificate of the Pope from Krakow - John Paul II," Dr Dziwisz said.
The son of a railway worker, Dr Dziwisz was born in 1939 in Raba Wyzna in southern Poland and, as church legend has it, met Karol Wojtyla on one of the region's ski slopes before working with him when he became archbishop of Krakow.
He held much power during John Paul's declining years, acting as a gatekeeper who often decided who could or could not see the Pope. He was also an executor of the late pontiff's will, in which he was one of only two living people mentioned.
Going against tradition, John Paul named his personal secretary a bishop in 1998 and elevated him to archbishop in 2003, helping ensure that Dr Dziwisz could not be shunted into obscurity following his death, as some aides have been in the past.
Dr Dziwisz moved into one of the Polish religious houses in Rome following John Paul's death in April.
"I'm sad because I'm going back to Krakow for the first time without John Paul," he told Polish radio yesterday. "He is remaining here in Rome, but I feel that his presence will accompany me back home." Cardinal Macharski said Dr Dziwisz would probably take over his new duties on August 27th.
