New Bishop in Krakow

Zenit has a nice account of JPG's personal secretary, Archbishop Stanislaw Dziwisz, taking possession of his new diocese today. 70,000 people came!

A long procession left the cathedral with the saint's [Stanislaus] relics to the very beautiful and monumental Market Square, where the new archbishop presided over Mass in the presence of 70,000 faithful.A long applause, underlined by the traditional sound of the city's trombone, greeted the arrival of the two archbishops, new and outgoing.

It was Cardinal Macharski who, in his address to Archbishop Dziwisz, stressed that he will be able to count on St. Stanislaw as patron, but also on the protection of another "patron": Pope John Paul II. The crowd responded to this statement with a long, loud applause."I invite you to pray so that, under the protection of the martyr, St. Stanislaw, Pope John Paul II will be before God, as soon as possible, the new patron saint who protects us on the journey of faith as the world's watchmen in the face of difficulties," said the Polish cardinal.

Archbishop Dziwisz began his address recalling the 27 years he spent in Rome next to the "Peter of our time."He then expressed his gratitude to Benedict XVI for his new pastoral responsibility, and asked the faithful for prayers so that, as John Paul II wrote about himself, he will henceforth be able to be "the strong link" in the long episcopal tradition of Krakow, which began in the year 1000.