The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956
The process of “thaw”, developing in Poland after the death of Joseph Stalin, for a long time did not include the aspect of religious freedom. Demands to restore the possibility of free worship, teaching religious education, and, above all, the release of the Primate Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, were...
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The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow Press
2019-12-01
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| Series: | The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II |
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| Online Access: | http://czasopisma.upjp2.edu.pl/thepersonandthechallenges/article/view/3451/3350 |
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| _version_ | 1850044189748756480 |
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| author | Michał Wenklar |
| author_facet | Michał Wenklar |
| author_sort | Michał Wenklar |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The process of “thaw”, developing in Poland after the death of Joseph Stalin, for a long time did not include the aspect of religious freedom. Demands to restore the possibility of free worship, teaching religious education, and, above all, the release of the Primate Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, were always present in the society, as evidenced by school strikes or slogans appearing during the Poznań events of June 1956. The changes of October 1956, initiated by the 8th plenary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party, led to an improvement in state-Church relations and implementation of the most important postulates of the Church, including the return of the Primate to Warsaw, the reinstatement of religious education in schools, and the return of chaplains to prisons and hospitals. The authorities, however, did not treat the above as part of a binding agreement. As early as in the 1957 and 1958 activities restricting the functioning of the Church began. The symbolic markings of the process were the attack on the Primate’s Institute at Jasna Góra in 1958 and the withdrawal of consent for the construction of the church in Kraków’s Nowa Huta. Finally, in 1961, religious education was removed from schools, and in 1962 a separate department of the Security Service was established for the sole purpose of the fight against religion. Although the practices of the Stalinist period did not make their comeback, the 1956 thaw appeared to be only a short episode in a constant conflict between the communist state and the Roman Catholic Church. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8cc82a2fe5b64731a578ecf2ac22deef |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2083-8018 2391-6559 |
| language | deu |
| publishDate | 2019-12-01 |
| publisher | The Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II |
| spelling | doaj-art-8cc82a2fe5b64731a578ecf2ac22deef2025-08-20T02:55:03ZdeuThe Pontifical University of John Paul II in Krakow PressThe Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II2083-80182391-65592019-12-0192699010.15633/pch.3451The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956Michał Wenklar0Historical Research Office of the Institute of National Remembrance, Krakow, Poland Ignatianum Academy in Krakow, PolandThe process of “thaw”, developing in Poland after the death of Joseph Stalin, for a long time did not include the aspect of religious freedom. Demands to restore the possibility of free worship, teaching religious education, and, above all, the release of the Primate Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, were always present in the society, as evidenced by school strikes or slogans appearing during the Poznań events of June 1956. The changes of October 1956, initiated by the 8th plenary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party, led to an improvement in state-Church relations and implementation of the most important postulates of the Church, including the return of the Primate to Warsaw, the reinstatement of religious education in schools, and the return of chaplains to prisons and hospitals. The authorities, however, did not treat the above as part of a binding agreement. As early as in the 1957 and 1958 activities restricting the functioning of the Church began. The symbolic markings of the process were the attack on the Primate’s Institute at Jasna Góra in 1958 and the withdrawal of consent for the construction of the church in Kraków’s Nowa Huta. Finally, in 1961, religious education was removed from schools, and in 1962 a separate department of the Security Service was established for the sole purpose of the fight against religion. Although the practices of the Stalinist period did not make their comeback, the 1956 thaw appeared to be only a short episode in a constant conflict between the communist state and the Roman Catholic Church.http://czasopisma.upjp2.edu.pl/thepersonandthechallenges/article/view/3451/3350catholic churchpolish people’s republicstate-church relationsthawstefan wyszyńskiwładysław gomułka |
| spellingShingle | Michał Wenklar The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956 The Person and the Challenges. The Journal of Theology, Education, Canon Law and Social Studies Inspired by Pope John Paul II catholic church polish people’s republic state-church relations thaw stefan wyszyński władysław gomułka |
| title | The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956 |
| title_full | The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956 |
| title_fullStr | The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956 |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956 |
| title_short | The Polish Church and the “Thaw” of 1956 |
| title_sort | polish church and the thaw of 1956 |
| topic | catholic church polish people’s republic state-church relations thaw stefan wyszyński władysław gomułka |
| url | http://czasopisma.upjp2.edu.pl/thepersonandthechallenges/article/view/3451/3350 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT michałwenklar thepolishchurchandthethawof1956 AT michałwenklar polishchurchandthethawof1956 |