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16
The
PLAIN TRUTH
February 1972
Tbe Vatican, lastern lurope and
B
ECAUSE
each communist nation
has a separate history and back–
ground, it is important that we
briefly survey the major countrics in
C.ommunist Europe and their rela–
tions witb the Vatican. The strategies
of the present become much more
s•gnificant when viewed against the
record of past centuries.
Soviet Union
It is very important to realize that
the religious background of Russia is
predominantly Russian Orthodox,
with connections to the Greek Ortho–
dox Church of Constantinople. The
Roman Church has had very little in–
fluence in Russia.
Up until 1917, the basic Eastern
policy of the Vatican was simply to
bring the Orthodox Churches, in–
cluding the Russian Orthodox, back
into the "wider embrace" of the
Church. Despite Communist per–
secutions of the Orthodox, and the
forced acceptance of state cont rol,
Russian foreign policy cannot ignore
the Russian Church. That (hurch,
and religion in general, still has a
surprising influence, even after three
generations of indoctrination. Like–
wise, the Vatican's dealings with
Moscow must take the Russian Patri–
arch into account.
One historical fact, which the Rus–
sians may not have forgotten, is that
the Vatican once promoted the mili·
tary conquest of Russia by Catholic
powers, notably Poland. A Polish–
Lithuanian alliance actually captured
and held Moscow for two years in
the early seveoteenth century.
In spite of that fact, relations
between Moscow and the Vatican are
warming up.
In 1966, Russian Foreign Minister
Gromyko called at the Vatican for a
IJ5-minute audience. A few months
later, President Podgorny became the
first Soviet chief of state to visit the
Vatican. Then in February, 1971, the
lirst Vatican emissary to the U.S.S.R.,
Archbishop Agostino Casaroli, spent
live days in Moscow. He stated, on
his arrival in the Russian capital,
"1
am happy to come here in an
efforl
for peace.
I am also happy because
the Soviet Union always has proved
its appreciation of the Holy See's
e¡.
forts for peace."
Poland
When thc ( ommunists took over
Poland, an estimated 95 percent of
the populace was Roman Catholic.
For the most part, the Poles have
stubbornly continued practicing their
religion, even in the face of pres–
surc and outright pcrsecution. One
of the Catholic leaders, Cardinal
Wyszynski, said that "there is not
enough room in the churches for the
faithful."
Centuries ago, the Vatican had
hopes that Poland would be able to
"convert" the Russians to Catholi–
cism. But thc decline of Poland
thwarted that hope. Poland was parti–
tioned among severa! countries in
1795 and ceased to exist for more
than a century.
One author cornmeoted on the sit–
uation in these words: "The Vatican
naturally followed the rise of Russia
and the decline of Polish power with
great interest. lt recognized that it
would no longer be possible to con–
quer Russia....
A~
a result, Poland
as a factor in the expansion of
Catholicism was written off, and the
various partitions of Poland were not
objected to by the Vat ican" (Daim,
p.
53) .
At thc beginning of World War
Il, a situation analogous to the Pol–
ish-Lithuanian one, centuries earlier,
developed. Pius XII recognized Hit–
ler's conquests in Poland. "He kept
hoping that H itler's troops would
open the way for Catholicism's ad–
vance into Russia" ( Daim, p. 81).
Germany's capitulation in 1945 ter–
minated this hope also.
Tensions between the Church and
the Communist government in the
late fifties and early sixties prevented
any dialogue. Now things are look–
ing up. In January 1971, the Vati–
ca n made moves to recognize the
border between East Germany and
Poland as the Oder-Neisse river, fol–
lowing the PolishfWest German
agreement. This has been onc of the
sore points between Poland and
Rome. Later in the year, the Polish
chicf of state, Gierek, granted 1,700
chapels and other parish buildings of
thc former German territorics to the
Polish Church.
Hungary, Czechoslovakia,
and Yugoslavia
At the end of World War
JI,
6
out of
lO
Hungarians were Catholic.
(Thc Hungarians had been con–
verted by Catholic missionaries as
early as the eleventh century.) After
a communist goveroment took over,
strained relations began between
Church and State.
Then in 1964, a Church-State
agrecment portended a lessening of
tcnsions. But government harrass–
mcnt sccmed to increase in the fol–
lowing yea rs, rather than tone down.
Presently, signs of an accord are
mounting. For the lirst time since
1949, thc traditional procession of
thc relics of the Hungarian St. Stc–
phcn was pcrmitted in 1970. Th•s
seemcd to be a clear indication of the
governrnent's desire for greater har–
mony between itself and the Church.
Then in April, Hungary's Foreign
Minister Peter had a 40-minute talk
with Pope Paul VI,
in
Rome. The
Pope asked a favor concerning a
touchy subject.
Cardinal Mindszenty had beco an
cxile in the American embassy for
about
l
5 years. lt seemed that sorne
officials in the Vatican had not been
too pleased with his actions, often a
source of embarrassment to both
sides. One Catholic deric labeled his
bchav10r as "utterly irresponsible."
However, following a strong plea
from Pope Paul, Cardinal Mind–
szenty was allowed to travel to Rome
last autumn.
Three fourths of the Czech people
before World War Il were Cath–
olic. Nevertheless, the Church in
Czechoslovakia suffered the same fate
as in other countries taken over by
Communists. Under the Dubcek re·
gime, things began to look up. As
one authority put it, Oubcek re-