Lasota, Marek. Donos
na Wojtyłę. Karol Wojtyła w teczkach bezpieki [Denouncing
Wojtyla. Karol Wojtyla in Polish communist secret service records].
Kraków: Wydawnictwo Znak, 2006, pp. 348. pp.
"The book is not just another
Wojtyła biography. His activities are seen from the perspective of
secret service officers and through the denunciations of collaborators."
Although
17 years have passed since the fall of communism in Poland, Polish
society still has not fully come to terms with its traumatic past. In
some cases, Stalinist era judges who sentenced dozens of innocent
patriots to death continue to live well out of government pension.
High party officials and some secret service officers responsible for
the persecution of Catholic church, including the murder of
“Solidarity” chaplain, father Jerzy Popiełuszko in
1984, remain
unpunished. In 2005, in view of the failure of state institutions to
bring those people to justice, a journalist published names of around
120,000 secret police collaborators, triggering national controversy.
Days after the death of John Paul II in April 2005 it was revealed
that a priest from the pope’s surrounding was a secret
collaborator
(even though neither his position in Church structure nor influence
were significant). Moreover, it became clear that in some periods as
many as 10 per cent of the clergy collaborated in some way with the
communist regime. As a result of these findings, in February 2006
cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, former secretary of John Paul II and
since 2005 archbishop of Cracow, created a committee called
„Pamiec
i troska” (Rememberance and Care) to investigate the problem
in his
diocese. Similar committees were created in other dioceses.
It
is in the midst of these debates and controversies that Marek
Lasota’s book Donos na Wojtyłę. Karol Wojtyła w
teczkach
bezpieki. [Denouncing Wojtyla. Karol Wojtyla in Polish
communist
secret service records] appears. Lasota is a historian working at the
Institute of National Remembrance (Instytut Pamięci Narodowej), an
independent unit established by the Polish Parliament in December
1998 (and operating since 2001) in order to investigate and prosecute
crimes against Polish nation under nazism and communism. The book is
a first comprehensive study of secret service records focusing on
Karol Wojtyła, with documents dating from the period between 1946
(when Wojtyła was first mentioned) and his pastoral visits to Poland
in 1979 and 1982.
The
book is not just another Wojtyła biography. His activities are
seen from the perspective of secret service officers and through the
denunciations of collaborators. Lasota lets the documents speak for
themselves, retaining their crude language and spelling errors. First
of all, the author tries to show the extent of communist penetration
of the Church. In 1967 two hundred seventeen secret service officers
were trying to infiltrate and disintegrate the diocese of Cracow
alone. Since 1963 every priest and every parish had its own record on
the secret service files. When Wojtyła became bishop at the age of
just 38, skillfully managing his diocese and rising to prominence in
the universal church during the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) he
became focus of an intense investigation. A document prepared in 1967
contained a list of over 100 questions of interest to the communists.
What time does cardinal Wojtyła get up? How often does he shave?
Does he smoke or play cards ? Who takes care of his clothing and
cleaning? What does he read? Who is his doctor and dentist? What are
his favorite sports? No piece of information seemed irrelevant. Since
1970s Wojtyła’s each step and every word were reported daily
to
communist authorities in Warsaw. Yet, his election as the first
non-Italian pope for 455 years came as a shock to both Polish
communists and Soviet leaders. On October 16, 1978 the officials in
Warsaw tried to explain their failure away: „better Wojtyła
as
pope over there [in Rome] than as Primate here” (p. 264).
However,
his first pilgrimage to Poland in June 1979 electrified the nation,
bringing hope and sense of unity to the suppressed society. The
Kremlin answered mastering a plan to assassinate the Pope in 1981.
The
book in review is a well-written scholarly account that significantly
contributes to our understanding of the church state relations in
communist Poland. It is likely to attract a wide readership and has
already been a focus of a robust debate. The Institute of National
Remembrance will soon publish an expanded version of the book, which
will reveal the names of secret police collaborators including those
among the clergy (the present edition names only secret service
officers). Lasota’s investigation shows both the might and
powerlessness of communist secret services towards the Church.
Despite huge resources, outward repression and threats they were
unable to curb the Church’s influence in Polish society and
stop
the wave of democratization in Central Eastern Europe that continues
until today.
Stanisław
Burdziej / Nicolas Copernicus
University,
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