Archbishop Wielgus.

Warsaw -- Cases of clergy collaboration with totalitarian regimes in occupied countries are nothing new.

Under Stalin and his successors the Communist regimes in every East European country attempted, first, to create an official collaborationist church with special privileges; and, second, to threaten or blackmail individual clergymen to reveal the thinking and politically incorrect opinions of fellow clergy.

On December 6, 2006, the Vatican appointed 67-year-old Stanislaw Wielgus as Archbishop of Warsaw and Primate of Poland. However, rumours spread that all was not kosher with the new archbishop's past behaviour. As late as two days before his installation, the Archbishop vigorously denied that he had ever spied on his colleagues. At that moment the hard facts caught him out. Evidence from the national institute which houses the Polish Secret Police files of 50 years of terror showed that as a young priest, Wielgus had signed a contract to report on his fellow citizens. He was rewarded by the government with a permit to study outside Poland. However, there is no direct proof that he had harmed anyone.

At the very last moment Pope Benedict, who had not known about the spying charges when he appointed Wielgus as archbishop on December 6, stepped in and asked him to admit his error and resign his prospective post, realizing he would be a countersign to his country and to his Church for the remainder of his life. Bishop Wielgus complied during the very Mass that would have seen him installed as archbishop.

For some years a battle has been raging in Poland between those who say that all Secret Police documents should be published, and those who believe it is better to forget the past and say nothing. The current President and Prime Minister of Poland support openness and publication.

Immediately following the incident in Warsaw, the rector of the Wawel Cathedral in Krakow, Father Janusz Bielanski, also resigned for the same reason (National Post, Jan. 9, 2007).