The Catholic Church in Poland in the Years 1944-1950

Abstract

The reality, in which the People’s Republic of Poland found itself after world war II, made the Catholic Church in Poland meet the new challenges, in spite of much authority which it had in the society. The one of a principle importance was breaking the Concordat by the State authorities. After a certain period of time lack of any legal solution on such a level considerably complicated relations between the State and the Church. Searching closure in this area was supposed to guarantee the Church certain freedom in priests’ activities and the State authorities – acceptance in the international arena. In spite of certain inconveniences the Polish Episcopate decided to sign an agreement, which however did not protect the Church against further excluding from the social life.