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Ministry of the
Society of Christ Fathers to Polish Migrants.
The 20th century
coming to its end, has been a witness of the
events which have diametrically changed and are
still changing the face of the world. One of
these events, that continues to take place, is
the migration of people. It arises as a
characteristic of this age. Many reasons have
affected it. Two world wars, the presence of
totalitarian rules, political, social and
economic crisis have played a great role in the
enormous migration of people. Migration has
taken place within the borders of Europe, but
likewise, people emigrated from the old
continent to both North and South America,
Australia and in part to Africa. In the movement
of large masses of people of Europe, Poles, have
also had their part. The deciding factor was and
remains to be the geopolitical placing of
Poland. Many sons and daughters of the nation,
were physically forced to emigrate. They were
taken by force to Siberia. The reason for it,
was the totalitarian communist system, and the
Yaltan division of Europe after the second world
war.
During the thirties,
on to the arena of the life of the Church in
Poland came Cardinal August Hlond.
A descendent of the
region of Silesia. He himself experienced the
life of an emigrant while studying in Rome, and
when he was the inspector of the Salesian
Province in Vienna, Austria. He came to know the
conditions of the emigrant way of life. When
Cardinal Hlond was appointed Archbishop of the
Gniezno-Poznan Archdiocese, and received the
title of the Primate of Poland, from that moment
on, among many other assignments, he showed
special care for Polish emigrants. He visited
Polish groups in Europe, South America. Standing
before the critical situation in which Polish
pastoral care for emigrants found itself, he
took many different kinds of initiatives to
ensure the presence of Polish speaking priests
among migrant communities. Finally, in 1932
after receiving approbation of Pope Pius XI, he
established the Religious Order of the Society
of Christ to Polish Migrants. He entrusted the
responsibility of organizing the new Order to
Fr. Ignacy Posadzy, a priest of the Archdiocese
of Gniezno-Poznan. The beginnings were very
difficult. Development of the Order was
interrupted by the second world war. After its
end, Father Posadzy began once again to
reorganize what had been started. Until 1956 it
was not possible for the priests of our Order to
leave the country and to go to our mission
field. Beyond the borders of Poland remained
those priests, who were put there, by the
conditions caused by the war.
Due to the new
political situation in Poland, 1956 became a
turning point with regard to the realization of
the Order's mission. The first priests began to
travel to the territories of their mission work:
Brazil, Australia, Germany, France, Canada, the
United States. These were the first countries
the members of the Society, had been sent to.
From that moment up to the present time, we have
acclaimed a larger portion of the pastoral care
of the migrant communities.
The structure of
the presence in the Church.
Our presence in the
Universal Church was recognized by Decretum
Laudis, of the Holy See, which we received on
the 22nd of April 1950. In the shadow of the old
- age Cathedral, on Ostrow Tumski in Poland, the
Motherhouse along with the Seminary are located.
Presently, our Order consists of: 395 priests,
40 brothers, 50 candidates for the priesthood,
17 novices. In the seminary as well as in the
novitiate we have representatives of various
countries: Australia, Brazil, Bielorussia,
Romania, Germany, Ukraine, the United States.
From this special place - Ostrow Tumski, so rich
in national and religious history and tradition,
priests and brothers of our Order go forth to
different places on the globe to realize the
mission of our Society.
Every Religious
Community, in order to mature and develop, must
act according to a certain structure. Such a
structure does not differ much from the type
that functions among other religious orders. The
obligation of caring for the life of the Order
as a whole, and the realization of its mission,
lies upon the Superior General and General
Council. The Order is made up of provinces,
which the Provincials and Provincial Councils
are responsible for. Presently we have six
provinces:
-
Australian Province:
composed of Australia and New Zealand;
-
French Province:
composed of France and Spain;
-
Great Britain
Province: composed of Iceland, England and South
Africa.
-
German Province:
composed of Germany, Holland and Italy;
-
South American
Province: composed of Argentina, Brazil and
Uruguay;
-
North American
Province: composed of Canada and United States.
Of course, a large
number of priests are working in Poland in the
North-Western region of Poland - in the
Archdiocese of Szczecin and in the Archdiocese
of Wroclaw.
There are other
countries in which the priests of the Society of
Christ, are under direct jurisdiction of the
Superior General: Bielorussia, Kazakhstan,
Ukraine and Hungary - Budapest.
Poland
Since the end of the
second world war, we have been offering our
services also in Poland. First of all, in the
western region of the country, as well as in the
Archdiocese of Wroclaw. Presently, we have 145
priests and 36 brothers working in Poland. There
are 250 priests, and 4 brothers, involved in the
realization of our mission abroad. Our Order has
its own publishing office called "Hlondianum".
We also publish a biblical-liturgical monthly
called "Msza Swieta", as well as other magazines
such as "Milujcie sie" and "Glos Seminarium
Zagranicznego". Along with the activity of the
Society, joined with it, is the Foundation under
the name of Cardinal August Hlond.
Last year the
process of the beatification of our founder,
Card. August Hlond, in the territory of Poland
was completed. The process is being continued in
Rome.
Conclusion.
Standing before so
many needs of the Polish migrants, the Society
of Christ realizes the fact, that the needs for
pastoral care are greater that its own personnel
resources. It can fulfill this special mission
in the Church only along with diocesan priests
and those of religious communities.
At the turn of the
Milleniums, the Society of Christ together with
many other priests has a task to present to
Polish immigrants what is the most important and
essential in life. Although, they live the
riches of many different nations, their lands,
the wealth of their culture, traditions and
customs. One, the most important thing has to be
done, the value of the Christian faith, Catholic
faith, which flows forth from a 2000 year
tradition of the Church has to be proclaimed in
the new conditions in which the contemporary
world lives.
general@tchr.org
Rev.
Tadeusz Winnicki, SChr
Superior General
Society of Christ
Poznan.
22.12.1998.
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