On May 28 at 5:30 PM, a solemn Holy Mass will be celebrated at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere for the canonization of the Blessed Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, on the 45th anniversary of his death. The Eucharist, celebrated in Italian, will be presided over by Archbishop Wojciech Polak, Primate of Poland and Metropolitan of Gniezno. During the Mass, the relics of the “Primate of the Millennium” will be solemnly introduced into the Roman Basilica, which served as his titular church from 1957 until his death.

The Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere is one of the iconic churches of Christian Rome, and its history in many ways mirrors the history of the Church. It is very dear to Romans, not least because it is located in the heart of the capital’s most popular neighborhood. However, not everyone knows that the Polish people also share a special bond with this Trastevere basilica.

At the end of the 16th century, one of the most eminent Polish prelates, Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius (Stanisław Hozjusz), held this basilica as his titular church. He served as Camerlengo of the Sacred College, participated as a papal legate in the Council of Trent, was one of the Council’s most influential figures, and a champion of the Counter-Reformation. He died in 1579 in Capranica, near Viterbo; his funeral monument is located in his basilica, within the presbytery, to the right of the apse.

Four centuries later, the title of Santa Maria in Trastevere was assigned to another Polish cardinal, the Primate Stefan Wyszyński. Created cardinal by Pius XII in 1953, he was the guide and point of reference for the Church in Poland during the dramatic period of the communist regime. Primate Wyszyński was highly esteemed in the Vatican and very popular among the people of Rome. This is what the famous journalist Silvio Negro wrote about him in 1958 in his book “Vaticano minore”:

“The Pole Wyszyński is the only cardinal who, upon arriving in Rome, is received at the station not by a few friends but by a crowd that pays him tribute; the only one greeted with applause in the streets if he happens to stop and be recognized. The people see in him a martyr and a victor; they see at the same time a good fighter who is always in the trenches and always in danger, and they are moved to give him impetuous witness. Add to this that the poignant and youthful figure of the Polish primate seems made to measure to express all of this, adding understanding to understanding and sympathy to sympathy.”

Primate Wyszyński was beatified in Warsaw in 2021, 40 years after his death.

In his titular church, a commemorative plaque was placed in his memory, featuring a medallion portraying the Cardinal Primate alongside the image of Our Lady of Częstochowa; below is an inscription in Polish and Italian with the words “I give myself entirely to You, Mary.” Now, his relics can also be venerated in the Trastevere basilica.

The ceremony is organized in collaboration with the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland to the Holy See, Adam Kwiatkowski; the Metropolitan of Warsaw, Archbishop Adrian Galbas; and the pastor of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Father Marco Gnavi.