University as a Source of Humanization of Social Life. Thoughts on Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński’s Relational Personalism

Abstract

Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński took a vivid interest in social life issues. This fact was, among other things, reflected in his preachings to academic circles. In Wyszyński’s preachings the concept of university emerges as a community of scholars and students who are duty-bound to serve a nation and society in the spirit of truth, liberty, justice and love, which in turn may contribute to the humanization of social life. On the other hand, the members of the university community are given an opportunity to develop a fully human nature through their service founded upon the belief that man does not entirely belong to himself, but he also belongs to a family, society, nation as well as the Church and God. These reflections appear to derive from Wyszyński’s relational personalism, whose cornerstone is the idea that man constitutes the ultimate value, yet in order to become a fully-fledged person he essentially needs a society. At the same time, while being the individual who carries his own values and personal traits, man is a wholly indispensable dimension of social life existence.