Bishop Karol Wojtyła in the Kraków cathedral chapter (1958–1963)

Karol Wojtyła as a canon of Kraków from the introduction of Bishop K. Wojtyła to the Chapter in 1958 until the announcement of his nomination as Archbishop Metropolitan of Kraków. The basic source of information about this period of his life is the chapter records in the Archives of the Metropolitan Chapter in Kraków – Acta actorum Capituli from the years 1958–1963. The subject seems to be important both because of the little-known stage of the life of the future Pope John Paul II and because it was probably the last stage of the splendor of the Cracow Chapter, which at that time still had the authority to elect the Vicar of the Chapter, as well as to co-manage the diocese in a certain sense. Bishop K. Wojtyła's unquestionable merit for the Cracow Chapter was its new organization, its growth from 9 to 12 members, as well as securing the continuity of the election of two academic canons from among the professors of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Cracow. It was also an important time for the renewal of the cult of St Stanislaus and St Jadwiga the Queen. It was also an important time for taking a more serious interest in the needs of the chapter archives and thinking about the cathedral museum at Wawel. During the five years in question (1958-1963) Bishop K. Wojtyla visited Wawel Cathedral nearly a hundred times to preside at liturgies and to preach. Together with the chapter, Bishop Wojtyla discussed matters important to the chapter and the cathedral, as well as to the Archdiocese. He placed his trust in the chapter, which was reciprocated. After the Second Vatican Council, and especially after the introduction of the Code of Canon Law in 1984, the importance of the chapters was reduced almost exclusively to liturgical and representative functions. In this difficult time for chapters in general, and for the Cracow Chapter in particular, it remained an honorable memory that one of its canons was the future Pope John Paul II.