On 20 November 1632 Vasa received the office of Prince Bishop of Cracow (after the death of Andrzej Lipski); he performed his duties in person from 27 February 1633.
On 20 December 1632 his cardinal nomination was declared in public; Pope Urban VIII signed the nomination on 19 October 1629 but in secret (in pectore tacite), and after revealing the information he granted Jan Albert the presbyterian title of Sanctae Marie in Aquiro.
Jan Albert died in Italy in 1634 at Padua, where he was likely sent by his brother, King Wladislaw IV Waza with a diplomatic mission. The cause of his death is uncertain - Albrycht S. Radziwill in his diary suggested that he was infected with smallpox when he met his brother, Aleksander Karol during their meeting before he left for Italy (Karol died this same year from smallpox). Paweł Piasecki suggests that the cause of his death could be some illness other than smallpox.
In the office of Bishop of Warmia he was succeeded by Mikolaj Szyszkowski in 1632. In the office of Bishop of Kraków he was succeeded by Jakub Zadzik.
1Also prince of Norway 2Also prince of Poland and Lithuania 3Lost his title due to an unequal marriage 4Not Swedish prince by birth, but created prince of Sweden