"I have never collaborated with the secret services of the communist regime. I have never signed any pledge to collaborate, I have never accepted any gifts or remunerations". This was stated yesterday by mgr. Józef Michalik, president of the Polish Bishops Conference and archbishop of Przemysl, after he was informed by the Historical Committee of the Church that he had been included, under the fictitious name of Zefir (Zephyr), in 1975, in the registers of the collaborators of the communist regime, from which he was struck off in 1978. "I have always taught publicly stated mgr. Michalik that we must remain within the truth. I have never shied away from the truth, and this is precisely why today I openly state it. We must look for the truth even when it means having to endure slander". Then, the archbishop added: "For me this is a time of ordeal. I have always thought I had been vigilant as to the subterfuges adopted by the communist officers". Mgr. Michalik said he was accosted for the first time by the secret service officers in 1961, when he was still a seminarian. Of this attempted threat he had immediately informed the parish priest and the rector of the seminary. (to be continued)
