Pope’s condolences for retired Polish primate, Cardinal Glemp

January 25, 2013 - Pope Benedict XVI has expressed his sadness at the death of retired Polish Cardinal Jozef Glemp, who passed away on Wednesday in a hospital in Warsaw. The 83-year old former archbishop of Warsaw who served as primate of the Catholic Church in Poland during the final years of communism and during the restoration of democracy, died of lung cancer. In a condolence message to Polish Catholics, Pope Benedict said the cardinal's last days were "marked by a suffering that he endured with a serenity of spirit." "Personally, I always appreciated his sincere goodness, his simplicity, his openness and his dedication to the cause of the church in Poland and in the world," the pope wrote. The Holy Father commended Cardinal Glemp’s "profound love for God and for man,” which he said, “was his light, inspiration and strength in the difficult ministry of guiding the Church at a time when significant social and political transformations were taking place in Poland and Europe." "That is how he will remain in my memory and in my prayer." Pope Benedict wrote that "love of God and love for the church, concern for the life and dignity of every person made him an apostle of unity in the face of division, of harmony in the face of conflict and of the need for the joint building of a happy future" that recognized both the richness and the painful experiences of Polish history. Three days of funeral ceremonies of Cardinal Glemp will begin Saturday and he will be buried Monday at St. John's Arch Cathedral in Warsaw.