Eliminacja zakonów z życia publicznego. Ograniczenie działalności charytatywnej i opiekuńczo-wychowawczej w latach 1945-1956

Abstract

The charitable, protective and formative activity of the religious orders stemmed from their charismas. As the military actions ended, the need for this kind of activity rose even more. After 1945 the religious orders adjusted themselves to new circumstances and the needs of the Church. Out of the total number of religious orders in Poland 36 female orders and several male orders worked in various domains of charitable and protective work. Nuns ran soup kitchens for the poor, canteens, and youth clubs for children and the youth. Another form of charitable activity was their care for the old and disabled in old people’s homes, care for difficult adolescents from correction centres. The broadest area of activity included kindergartens and Children’s Homes. In order to unify the charitable activity, the Episcopate of the Church subjected all religious charitable institutions to “Caritas.” In the first post-war years the state authorities did intervene in this activity conducted by the Church. The situation radically changed in 1949. Having liquidated “Caritas,” the authorities went on a systematic nationalisation of the religious charitable institutions. The only field of protective activity, where nuns could work, were institutions for the mentally disabled and the chronically ill, here the patients were not subjected to atheistic indoctrination. As a result of the policy of the communist authorities, the charitable activity conducted by the religious orders focused mainly on the parochial and diocesan structures. It consisted primarily in helping people in private homes and parochial rooms.