Evening star., 1952-04-13
Church AttendanceUu
In Europe Except
Behind Iron Curtain
BY the Associated Press

LONDON, April 12.-Europe at
Easter E. gaily painted eggs and
festive cakes hatred, venom
and fear Christianity strong
and militant . and Christianity
struggling for survival.
In old, weary Europe, rent by a
ceaSeless clash of ideologies, di-
vided by an iron curtain, how is
the church faring at this Easter
tide in its struggle?
Church officials give this pic
ture: In Poland, Austria, Den
mark, East and West Germany,
Italy. Switzerland, Greece and
Spain, church attendance is
climbing steadily. Attendance re-
mains high in Norway, Sweden
and France.
Behind the Iron Curtain, the
battle is a fierce one. In satellite
nations, Communist governments
are trying to force the idea of the
national church" upon millions
OF the devout And in the Soviet
Union itself, the continued oper-
alton of one church-the Russian
OrthodoX-is only at the sufferage
OF a dictatorial government.
YugOslavia Wary.
YugoSlaVia occupies a strange
twilight position. Its Communist
regime, cast out of the Moscow
fold, moves Warily under the crit
ical eyes of the West. 1t has
avoided any open declaration of
hostility against religion as such,
but has taken stern steps to re-
move church influence in public
affairs. Church doors are open,
as they are in other Communist
ruled countries, but. as in other
Communist countries, church at
tendance is froWned upon.
The Russian Orthodox Church
occupies perhaps the oldest of all
positions in an unreal world.
There is still much attendance at
church on the part of the older
people and on the part of the
youngsters they bring up in the
faith. The in-betWeens-those in
doctrinated in Communism Of
fetal atheiSm-are the ones who
stay away, mostly in the hope of
worldly reward. /;
But it often suits MoScoWs pur-
poses to use the Orthodox Church
as an arm of state policy, Just as
the Cars did. and for this reasonI
the Orthodox Church gives the
appearance of flouriShing.
In fact, however, the reports of
vast crowds packing the churches
of Leningrad and Moscow must
be read with the knowledge that
there are not many churches to-
day. Many church buildings long
ago were taken over in the Soviet
Union for other purposes. i
Russian Tradition Strong.
. Russian tradition calls for a
tremendous celebration at Easter
tide, and reSurgent Russian ma
tionalism today is such that the
traditional celebrations are toler-
ated, even when there are reli-
giouS overtoneS. Therefore, many
Russian housewives today are.
again painting hens eggs in
brilliant colors and preparing
the little cakes they will take
through the streets for the priests
blessings.
In the satellite nations, partic-
ularly where the populations are
dominantly Roman Catholic, the
situation is different.
In Poland about 80 per cent
Catholic. church attendance is
reported rising, despite the as
Saults of the government on the
church. One Polish observer re- ,
ports that at this Easter time the ]
state of Christian belief in Poland
is healthy. and that Catholic ira
ditionS continue strong. Commu-
nists and those hoping to gain by i
toeing the Communist line-theSe
include many persons in their late
teens and early twentieS-often
avoid the faith of their fathers,
but in the remainder of the popu-
lation, the faith is reported still
tn he furnishing
Czech Leader OuSted.
In CZechoslovakia, Communist
regime has been attempting to sell
the population on the idea of a
national church, divorced from
the influence of the Vatican. The !
head of the Catholic church,
Archbishop Josef Beran, has been
forcibly removed from his arch
bishopric and a puppet has been
installed. Other church dignitaries I
have been arrested or deported. +
Czechoslovakias Catholics num-
bered three quarters of the popu-
lation, or about 9 million persons.
Vienna sources say the member
ship has fallen off only slightly,
and that some of this loss is in .
areas where a resentful people
have boycotted government-in-
stalled "DrOgreSSiVe" priests