| Abstrakt: |
In 1945, A. Hlond, the Primate of Poland authorized by the Pope, created fi ve temporary apostolic administrations on the so-called Recovered Territories, which were to operate until new dioceses were founded by the Holy See. On the 26th January 1951 the communist authorities removed the apostolic administrators and replaced them with illegally elected capitular vicars. In this way, for the fi rst time in Poland, the government took control over dioceses using a method that had already been applied in Czechoslovakia and Hungary. It involved replacing legal bishops with temporary administrators willing to cooperate with the Polish government. The decision was taken by the top authorities of communist Poland and its implementation, referred to as "Operation B," was to be executed by the Ministry of Public Security. The steps taken earlier by the communist authorities could indicate that initially there had already been plans to remove the apostolic administrators in July 1950. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
