Assassination of Oswald Wierzbicki

On evening of October 16th of year 2001, a prominent member of Polish Catholic clergy - Oswald Wierzbicki, was found dead just outside cathedral administration house in city of Białystok. What appeared as a usual mugging attempt gone wrong on unusual victim turned out to be a part far reaching conspiracy of then recently established secret christian extremist group, known as Divine Order of Christ's Blood.

## Background

Order of Christ's Blood already had quite large follower base by mid 90's, with main centers being Spain, Central Europe, Greece, ERR, Saxonian part of Germany and parts of France. Though the most significant nation from which great numbers of support originated was Poland - ex communist nation that was a struggling, trying to shift it's economy and diplomacy towards west.

Poland, being a very traditional catholic nation, had large population that listened to and accepted ideology of Order. Communist period was marked by attempts to lessen the importance of religion in Poland, with some members of clergy openly collaborating with communist government in exchange for wealth. The fall of iron curtain and "Solidarność" movement in late 80's soon freed Poland from communist regime, and with it came a wave of nationalism, including resurgence of hardliner catholic communities. This allowed Order to find an excellent recruitment ground in eastern Europe.

Most of clergy that used to collaborate with communist government either turned over their influence and led normal, pious lives. Other, however, took on work of opposing rising nationalist powers in Poland for their own purposes. Some were still influenced by old communists who held some power even after fall of socialist world, while others feared the very conservative Christians, whom they saw as a looming threat that might cause great damage to Poland's well-being in future.

One of such priests was Oswald Wierzbicki, whose activities soon earned the ire of Order.

## The victim

Oswald Wierzbicki, an aspiring bishop of Białystok, was somewhat active during communist period and was often seen attending lavish communist party events where he attempted to build compromise between communist establishment and religious community. Apart from that, his ability to give great sermons was widely known among christians of region and Wierzbicki enjoyed some popularity.

Years after the fall of communist system his popularity fell, until he discovered the existence of Order after talking to several colleagues who were interested in ideology of this new sect. Wierzbicki's research on Order soon made him realize the danger this organization posed not only to catholic church in Poland, but entire Europe. To his knowledge, the network of supporters was so big it was gaining authority at worrying pace and the extremist notion of Order was clearly anti-establishment of Vatican that Wierzbicki supported.

Worst arised when he discovered that not only thousands admired Order in Poland, but the main bishop of Poland himself was a very high ranking member of Order - a man who even participated in The First Convent where foundation of Order were first laid.

Calls of danger were sent to Vatican and for the first time, a catholic priest in Poland began openly warning people in his sermons about the dangers of extremism.

## Order's reaction

The organization was enjoying a great support in the nation, but the appearance of dissident bishop soon caused some damage. The main bishop was soon replaced by Vatican's chosen successor and reportedly some major new outlets began taking interest in Order. Such massive publicity could have ruined the plans of Order easily as they still had little power to protect their interests if entire nations started to investigate them as a threat.

Hector Van Reyes finally declared the enemy bishop as a danger to Order in year 2001 and his subordinates took action to remove him. The sudden rise of right wing movements and economical instability in many parts of Europe was intended to be used as a smokescreen for the assassination.

## Assassination

Roughly at 21:30 of local time, Wierzbicki left cathedral administration house in which he remained late due to heavy work schedule. He was the last person to leave the building. After locking the doors, bishop took few steps away from house when he encountered 2 masked men, while the third one was meters away watching the street for possible witnesses. He could not notice the thugs before due to darkness of late hour.

One of assailants smashed victims head with a metal rod, while other kicked him into head when he collapsed onto ground. Wierzbicki died instantly due to blunt head trauma.

Killers quickly rummaged through dead man's body and took his wallet, crucifix and golden bishop's ring to make the murder look like mugging attempt gone wrong. Soon after the men scattered.

Wierzbicki's body was discovered mere 30 minutes later by a resident who was out walking his dog. Police soon arrived to the scene and the news of murder were published right next day.

## Reaction and arrest of suspect

The news of death of a well known clergyman sent shock-waves through Poland. The simple nature of murder led many to believe that Wierzbicki was a victim of common criminal or a junkie. Though skeptics noted that such accidents were very rare in that neighborhood and increasingly many remembered that he was a very big critic and opponent of a mysterious sect called "Order of Christ's Blood". Vatican was soon notified of the incident and made a public announcement that the bishop was likely assassinated, despite the official investigation still dubious on such claims.

3 days after the assassination, a local man whose name was not revealed by authorities was arrested after receiving a tip-off from anonymous resident, claiming he saw the man hanging not far from the administration building every evening a week before Wierzbicki was murdered. The police soon determined that the man, a known far-right sympathizer and member of ultra nationalist faction was indeed related to bishop's death.

The suspect revealed some details in span of 3 weeks while in custody, mentioning that they picked Wierzbicki as a target because of his apparent anti-nationalist views and his past during communist period. This turned out to be false after he accidentally mentioned being hired by a foreign agent who was not identified. The "agent" contacted his friend, another local neo-nazi thug, promising large (roughly 200 000 dollars) payment for bishops murder.

Second perpetrator, who dealt the blow with a metal rod, was arrested only 4 years later while hiding in Ireland, while the third one, who was watching the street, escaped justice completely - he joined Order's monastic chapter and became one of the first monks inducted into of Order's military years later.

## Aftermath

Wiezbicki's death gained international attention after the suspect interrogation details were leaked to public. The Order's existence, previously largely ignored by most, was widely recognized. The very fact that a shadowy religious sect would take heavy handed solutions in neutralizing their enemies was enough for nations to quickly start investigating them more, while discovering how vast the numbers of their followers already are. It was the turning point for Order.

The wake-up call proved to be harmful to Order due to scrutiny and bad press given by most national governments of Europe and even elsewhere. Despite that, soon they would amass enough wealth and supporters to initiate militarization few years later. Even more, one particular leader of a nation in south-eastern Europe took a big interest in these extremists.

The Order would arise far stronger and dangerous in later years, when numerous economical and political calamities would be ravaging the world in late 2010's.