Background
Macharski, Franciszek Cardinal was born on May 20, 1927 in Krakow, Poland, D.Theology. Ordained priest Roman Catholic Church, 1950.
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Macharski, Franciszek Cardinal was born on May 20, 1927 in Krakow, Poland, D.Theology. Ordained priest Roman Catholic Church, 1950.
During World World War II he worked as a menial laborer and afterward entered the seminary in Krakow, where he also studied theology.
He was the Archbishop of Krakow from 1978, succeeding Karol Wojtyła to the chair of Saint Stanisław, until his resignation in 2005. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 1979. He was ordained as a priest in April 1950 by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha.
Until 1956 he was a vicar in a parish near Bielsko-Biała and was then transferred to Fribourg, Switzerland to continue his theological studies.
He received his doctorate in 1960. Father Macharski was appointed Archbishop of Krakow in December 1978 by Pope John Paul II, who had been Archbishop of that city himself until his election to the Papacy in October 1978.
Macharski was consecrated as a Bishop by John Paul II himself at the Vatican on 6 January 1979 and took possession of the Archdiocese of Krakow on 28 January 1979, when he was installed at Wawel Cathedral. Archbishop Macharski was created Cardinal-Priest of San Giovanni a Porta Latina as his titular church in June 1979, the first consistory of the new pope.
This was a mere six months after his episcopal consecration.
He turned 80 in May 2007 and as a result passed the maximum age for voting in the conclave. Cardinal Macharski retired as Archbishop of Krakow on 3 June 2005. Upon his resignation being accepted, he became Archbishop emeritus of Krakow, and was succeeded in that See by Pope John Paul II"s private Secretary, now Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz.
Member Congregation of Clergy, 1979, Congregation of Catholic Education, 1981, Congregation for Bishops, 1983, Council of Cardinals and Bishops, 1988. Member Congregation for Institutions of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life, 1989. Member Episcopate Committee for Emigration Ministry, 1988.