euro|topics - The Church and the communist secret service

Main focus of Monday, January 8, 2007

The Church and the communist secret service

Poland is going through a dramatic crisis with its Catholic Church: Stanislaw Wielgus was supposed to have been inaugurated yesterday as the new Archbishop of Warsaw. But after confirming his collaboration with the former communist secret service he turned down the new office. Commentators ask how the Church is dealing with its past in Poland and in other eastern European countries.

Gazeta Wyborcza - Poland

Jan Turnau says that the case of Warsaw Archbishop Stanislaw Wielgus not only damages the connection between the Polish Church and the Vatican: "The entire institution of the Church made a bad decision and was too late in withdrawing from it... And the worst of it was visible at yesterday's service in the Cathedral: the Pope is not an authority for Catholics, despite the fact that they swear piety. They defended the Archbishop against the Pope. The sermon of Cardinal Glemp, very vague on this point, failed to calm the uproar, which - to speak in terms of the Gospel – turned the temple into a den of thieves. And unfortunately, both sides are guilty." (08/01/2007)

Der Standard - Austria

Josef Kirchengast hopes the whole affair surrounding Bishop Stanislaw Wielgus will finally set a larger debate into motion about the entanglement with the communist system. "If the Polish church can address its strength to its region alone, it will prove better than anything its continuing role as an influence on the country's society. And more: It could present an example for the entire post-communist region for constructive confrontation with the totalitarian past. Because in practically all the countries of the former Eastern Bloc there is a tremendous backlog to deal with. Even the best 'transparency laws' could not succeed in shedding light on this dark chapter, if the readiness of a majority of the society is lacking." (08/01/2007)

Népszabadság - Hungary

The paper compares the case of Polish Bishop Stanislaw Wielgus with the exposure of former Hungarian Cardinal László Paskai in the spring of 2006: "An investigation by historian Krisztián Ungváry revealed that Paskai at first resisted the harassment of the Hungarian Secret Service. But when he finally felt he had no choice, he agreed to collaborate. He was very careful to avoid harming any of those on whom he was spying. In Hungary, proponents of an unconditional clarification of the past believe the Church also has to set an example in this work. But others tend to consider all those holding positions in the Catholic Church who were spies for the Hungarian State Security to have been victims of the communist dictatorship." (08/01/2007)

La Stampa - Italy

The journalist and writer Enzo Bettiza offers his interpretation of the revelations concerning the past of Archbishop of Warsaw. "It is not easy to understand the scandal which is perhaps the most serious since 1989 in the tumultuous, former Communist universe of Central Europe. Having only just been named Archbishop of Warsaw, [Wielgus] owned up to something incredible: to have been a spy at the service of Communism for 20 years. ... We do not know the nature of the damage done by the hidden activity of the prelate, but the point is not so much the quantity of harm done to the Church and anti-communist dissidents. The main point is that in a country where the Church has always been a moral reference, the case of Wielgus is creating disgust and devastation, not only because he collaborated with the former Communist services, but above all because he denied the truth right up until the end". (08/01/2007)

Süddeutsche Zeitung - Germany

Thomas Urban believes the collaboration of priests with the former communist secret service is only one of many problems facing the Catholic Church in Poland. Just as important is the split between traditionalists and reformers, as well as the question of what role the Catholic Church should play in the future. "Polish bishops have been arguing publicly since the death of Pope John Paul II about how that new role should be defined - an open discussion that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. The infiltration of the Church by the communist secret service, as in the case of Wielgus, is only a secondary problem.... More seriously, the Church is about to lose its traditional role as protector of Poland, given the new democracy that is no longer threatened by foreign enemies. At the same time, the clergy has failed to provide a response to rapid westernization and particularly to the secularization of society." (08/01/2007)

Libération - France

"The Archbishop has tripped up on his brand new cassock" comments Gerard Dupuy with some irony in his editorial. "With hindsight, Stanislaw Wielgus does not seem worthy of his superiors' trust. Not only was he carting around the past of an informer, but above all, he proved unflinchingly cynical, right up to the very last moment, in his efforts to sit upon his archiepiscopal throne. Such a sad example to set his flock! It is however the Vatican that has been most discredited and ridiculed in this affair. Not only did the Pope make a deplorable choice with Wielgus, he also took unusual risks to defend him against accusations. ... To the detriment of its reputation, the Vatican has shown itself up as imprudent and reckless. .... This monumental blunder will not help muffle the rumours of incompetence that are buzzing around Benedict XVI." (08/01/2007)

Cotidianul - Romania

Razvan Ciubotaru welcomes the fact that Polish Catholics are backing the withdrawal of Archbishop Stanislaw Wieglus. In Poland the church is a moral force. But in Romania, it is purely idealistic to think that the Orthodox church could take consequences from its past collaboration with the Romanian secret service, Ciubotaru writes: "'The position of deputy bishop of Bucharest remains unoccupied, ever since an investigative commission of the Orthodox Church of Romania proved that the new Bishop had cooperated with the former secret service, the Securitate'; but in fact the Romanian press would have to apply this to two thirds of all high-level church inaugurations. The Bishop was forced to admit his mistake to the faithful, and was released from his office... But it is very unlikely that something similar would occur." (08/01/2007)

» To the complete press review of Monday, January 8, 2007

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