The Council was long over and yet in the speeches, in the homilies of the Archbishop of Kraków, the reference to Ecclesia temper purificanda returned often. There were two new images of the Church that emerged from the Second Vatican Council, which Cardinal Wojtyła usually recalled: the Church – mystery, that is, the predominance of mystery over the institution, and the Church one and various, which, in his opinion, was the beginning of the end of clericalism. But there is no doubt that in his heat he carried the most the image of the Church, which, in response to God’s intentions towards him, should be constantly purified and renewed.
Over the centuries, this idea of the Church, which is in constant need of purification and renewal, has always been present in the Ecclesial consciousness. However, for various reasons – first the Lutheran Reformation and then external threats, starting with the Enlightenment – it was not implemented. The Second Vatican Council has returned to this idea, and it can be said that “inscribed” it in various documents. But then, basically, it all ended. There was no return to the apologetic and triumphant attitudes of the past. However, here is why Cardinal Wojtyła often addressed this problem– it could not fail to cause concern, deep spiritual anxiety. The Church, which constantly avoided looking at herself, to check if everything is in agreement with the evangelical spirit.
At that time, another case at the same time matured in Karol Wojtyła. It was a growing belief that the celebration of two thousand years since the birth of Jesus, from the Incarnation, represents a historic, decisive moment, a turning point not only for Christianity, but also for humanity. That is why it was natural for him to closely combine the great importance of this anniversary, what he called the “new Advent”, with concern about the condition in which the Catholic Church will attend this meeting at the turn of the millennium.
With the permission of Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz – “At the side of the Saint”
St. Stanislaw BM Publishing House, Krakow 2013
