Stosunki narodowościowe w archidiecezji wileńskiej w okresie rządów arcybiskupa Romualda Jałbrzykowskiego. Lata 1926-1945

Abstract

With the bulla Poloniae unitas of 28th October 1925 Pius XI had laid down a new structure for the Church in Poland, by making all the national borders within the borders of the dioceses. The newly established diocese in Vilnius was very large in terms of its territory. The census of the diocese made for the Church with respect to nationalities and denominations showed clearly that it was diverse. The decisive majority of the population was constituted by Poles, but in many decanates a large percentage covered Lithuanians and Byelorussians. A characteristic trait here was that denominations were not the same as nationalities. Churches and Orthodox churches, synagogues and mosques, evangelical churches and Karaite kineses – this was a plastic expression of that ethnic diversity. The diversity of the population in the archdiocese entailed demands posed to the church authorities, as regards national languages used in the liturgy. In this respect there were many conflicts between the clergy and the Polish, Lithuania, or Byelorussian societies. The clergymen who firmly advocated the Lithuania or Byelorussian nationalities often used their pulpits and temples for national activity. Now and again this activity was even brought to the level of religious practices. The priests were committed to socio-cultural organizations, and political parties. They petitions sent by the representatives of national minorities to express their own claims towards the church hierarchy in Vilnius. Having taken in the office in Vilnius, Abp R. Jalbrzykowski sought to prevent conflicts, even if through his order to teach the Lithuanian language in the Theological Seminary in Vilnius. He was accused of Polonizing and national policy, “which was designed to make the Church Polish.” Especially during the Second World War, the Lithuania and Byelorussian communities were hostile towards the archbishop. The example of that is that the Lithuania church hierarchy remained totally passive when the Wroclaw metropolitan bishop was arrested an interned.