The bishops’ note on Msgr. Kowalczyk To contrast the influence upon public opinion by media sensationalist news regarding the alleged – and completely ungrounded – claim that the present Apostolic Nuncio Msgr. Jozef Kowalczyk collaborated with Communist Poland’s secret services, the leadership of Poland’s Bishops’ Conference (KEP) issued a communiqué condemning “the attempts to discredit the person and the service” of the prelate. The bishops recall that in his capacities as diplomat to the Vatican Secretary of State, Msgr. Kowalczyk was part of the team that kept contacts with the authorities of Communist Poland. “As a consequence – is written in the statement – contacts with the representatives of the Polish government as well as with their delegates in Rome, were part of his responsibilities, that he carried out in a spirit of service to the Church and in the full respect of international relations principles”. At the beginning of the year the Commission of historians of the Polish episcopate, having analyzed – upon request of Msgr. Kowalczyk himself – the documentation of the Communist security services kept at the National Memory Institute, stated in a Note that since 1963 Msgr. Jozef Kowalczyk was the object of interest on the part of Communist security services, while since 1971, as diplomat of the Vatican Secretary of State he had been registered by the intelligence with the pseudonym “Cappino”, as “informative contact”. The commission declared that existing documentation (saved from the secret service archives’ destruction in 1990) “bears no evidence of cooperation activity with the security services” on the part of Msgr. Kowalczyk. The Commission pointed out that “all Polish diplomats of the Holy See were the object of inquiries on the part of Warsaw’s intelligence”. The Commission remarked that intelligence officers registered Msgr. Kowalczyk “without his knowledge nor consensus” and that “the prelate’s contacts with intelligence officers are in no way to be related to collaboration activity”. To this regard, KEP presidency highlighted: “Having known His Excellency the Apostolic Nuncio for a long amount of time, and aware of the concrete tokens of his fidelity to the Holy Father and to the Church, we have the moral certainty that he did not, in no way whatsoever, mindfully collaborate with the declared enemies of the Church”. In an official letter also the Bishops of Krakow, which include Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz and Franciszek Macharski, conveyed their solidarity to Msgr. Kowalczyk, underlining that the report of the Commission of historians “shows the groundlessness of the slanderous accusations”.Ecumenism: “Churches ought to dialogue””There are no boundaries for the Church, as there are no boundaries to ecumenism”, declared His Eminence Sawa, metropolitan bishop of Warsaw and head of the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Poland on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas. For this very reason, he reiterated, for ecumenism it’s important that “Christians don’t only stop at words but that in fact they stand in awe of God and have a profound faith”. Only then “will they be able to count on the help of God in the erection of unity”. The metropolite, referring to the delicate trait of ecumenical dialogue, remarked that the dialogue depends on the contribution of both parties, reaching a compromise that “will not affect the traditions of the original Church”. The metropolite referred to the appointment of female priests within the Protestant Church, which is unacceptable by the Orthodox and Catholics. Poland’s metropolitan Orthodox bishop, stressed “that dialogue between the Churches ought to continue, while the time and manner of their unification will come with the will of God”.Help to communities in Eastern EuropeJanuary 7 marked the conclusion of the extensive fund collection for Eastern Countries organized by Caritas and other NGOs. “In the family it’s important to help one another. Since a people is like a family, it is our duty to help”, declared Maciej Plazynski , ex president of the Polish parliament who currently chairs the association “Polish Community”. Mr. Plazynski recalled that although they are very numerous, the Polish communities to Eastern Europe and to Russia are economically weak and not very proactive. There are over 3 million Poles living in these Countries. Offerings will enable the arrival of aid also to children living in orphanages and to large families, underlined father Zdzislaw Swiniarski, vice-director of Polish Caritas who extended the initiative also to producers of foodstuffs and other consumption goods.
