The Catholic times. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1951-current, 1953-01-23

OONlVLASdlAOil NAAN w dA 11 W
camouflage its anti-religious atti-
tude. But now it is making no Sc
cret of its enmity toward the Ca
tholic Church.
Reports reaching here early IN
1852 dealt with continuing skir-
mishes in Warsaw's long-drawn out
campaign against the Church. Ca
tholic institutions were impeded In
their work. Priests were deprived
by one means or another of con-
facts with young people. One of
these means was the confiScation
Of orphanages conducted by relig-
ious orders. Another was the "liqul-
dation" of minor seminaries.
Meanwhile, priests and monks in
many parts of the country were
quietly, arrested, under various
fantastic pretexts. These arrests
took place to the accompaniment OF
constant propaganda barrage
against the Vatican, the Pope, and
the Polish Bishops.
The Bishops were accused of va
rious crimes" against the Polish
Peoples Republic and of failing to
live up to the terms of the April,
1850, agreement between the
Church and state.
Constitution Rewritten
The new constitution, which has
nothing in common with democ-
racy or the traditions OF the Pol
ish nation. was adopted on July
%. This was followed by national
elections" which saw the crea-
ton of a new parliament, compos'
ed almost exclusively of commun-
lists or communist stooges. 1t sub
sequently agreed to a far-reaching
program Of reform" TO make the
structure of the state conform to
the Soviet pattern.
Immediately after the "elec-
tons" the Warsaw regime began
to attack the Church openly. Ar
rests of priests increased They
were accused of all possible crimes,
from supporting the anti-commun-
isl underground movement to en-
gaging in illegal foreign currency
transactions.
AT the beginning OF November,
the communist press, supported by
groups OF socalled loyal Catholics,
began an attack on the Bishop
Stanislaw Adamski of Silesia, and
his AuxiIiaries, Bishops Herbert
Bednorz and Juliusz Bieniek.
The pretext for this attack was
Bednorz and julius Bieniek.
The pretext for this attack was
that the priests of the Diocese
were collecting signatures for an
appeal to the government regard
ing the teaching of religion in
schools.
This perfectly legitimate act was
called "inciting against the author.
ity of the people" and the three
Bishops were removed from the adj
ministration of the Watowice dio-
cese. In their place was elected
Vicar Capitular, Father Philip Bed.
norz, one of patriotic priests" &C
lively cooperating with the com
munist regime and pro-communist
organizations.
5 Bishops Held Captive
All the beginning of 1881, one
Polish prelate Bishop Czeslaw
Kaczmarek of Kielce-was in pris-
or. But at present five Bishops are
being held in the prisons of the Sc
curity Police. This fact alone dem
onstrates the new open warfare be-
ing waged against the Church by
tho Warsaw communists.
A major strategy is to accuse
the Bishops of various kinds of
crimes in the apparent hope of
ousting them from their dioceses
and replacing them by pro-com-
munists clergy Soviet agents are
aiming at liquidating the legiti-
mate Hierarchy by degrees and
eventually severing all ties be.
tween the Church in Poland and
the Vatican.
With such objectives in mind. it
Nas little wonder that a particular