Ślubowanie duchowieństwa w województwie wrocławskim na wierność Polskiej Rzeczpospolitej Ludowej i Jej Rządowi w kwietniu 1953 r. oczami aparatu represji

Abstract

The Decree of February 9, 1953 on appointments of clergy to church positions was a legal act crowning a broad array of actions aiming at subjugation of the Catholic Church to the communist authorities by forcing the clergy to make a pledge of allegiance to the state, and by gaining influence on filling church positions. This problem is presented through a reconstruction of the realization of the act of making the pledge – on the example of Lower Silesia and from the point of view of the political police. The pledge action was for the security apparatus not only another task within the scope of its responsibilities, but also an opportunity to build up its own position in the power structures of a totalitarian state. In the current study, lists of priests allowed and not allowed to make the pledge were reconstructed; the author describes the selection process of the clergy members, how did the involved priests react and – in the end – what meaning the whole operation had for the security apparatus. The conclusions are presented in the context of a stereotypical view that repressions against the Catholic Church were unusually harsh.