Russian Patriarch Kirill to Visit Poland in August

WARSAW, Poland - The Polish Catholic church is preparing to welcome the head of the Russian Orthodox Church to Poland in August, a visit church leaders describe as a historic step toward healing wounds between Russians and Poles.

The two Slavic nations have been divided for centuries by religion, with Poles predominantly Roman Catholic and Russians largely Orthodox. Wars and occupations going back centuries have also left a legacy that still causes bitterness in political relations between the two countries.

The key moment in Patriarch Kirill's four-day visit, from Aug. 16-19, visit will be the signing of a document appealing to Poles and Russians to forgive each other for past wrongs and injustices.

"We hope it will gradually lead to reconciliation between our nations," said Rev. Jozef Kloch, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic church in Poland.

Historical feuds are based on centuries of wars and invasions. The most recent causes of bitterness include the Soviet invasion and occupation of Poland's eastern half during World War II and Soviet domination of Poland during the Cold War.

Officials said the document will be signed by Patriarch Kirill and Archbishop Jozef Michalik, the head of Poland's conference of bishops, on Aug. 17 in Warsaw's Royal Castle.

Kloch said it is almost certainly the first such document signed by the two churches.

A Russian church spokesman, Rev. Vsevolod Chaplin, said in March that discussions between Catholic and Orthodox leaders in Poland will include recent and centuries-old problems between Catholic and Orthodox Christians.

Poland has its own Orthodox Church.

When Poland was restored as an independent nation in the wake of World War I, a large number of Orthodox Christians were included within its boundaries. According to the 1931 census, there were over 3.5 million Orthodox in the country, or 11.8% of the population. Most of these were ethnic Belarusans and Ukrainians in eastern Poland who had been under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate. Soon after the nation’s independence, however, Orthodox bishop Jerzy Jaroszewski of Warsaw and others in the hierarchy began to promote autocephaly for their church. The Polish government also supported the project. It was opposed, however, by a pro-Russian faction in the church leadership, who insisted on maintaining the historical links with Moscow. In spite of these divisions, a local church council proclaimed the church’s autocephaly in 1922. In response, Patriarch Tikhon of Moscow granted a certain level of autonomy to the Polish Church and raised Bishop Jerzy to the rank of Metropolitan, but refused to grant autocephaly. The controversy turned violent in 1923 when Metropolitan Jerzy was assassinated by a Russian monk who opposed his policies. But the movement towards independence continued to gain strength. The church then turned to the Patriarchate of Constantinople, which agreed to grant autocephaly to the Polish Orthodox Church on November 13, 1924, headed by Metropolitan Dionizy Waledynski, the successor of Metropolitan Jerzy. In 1927 Constantinople also granted the Metropolitan of Warsaw the title of “Beatitude.” The Moscow Patriarchate, however, protested these actions as interference in its affairs and refused to recognize the Polish church’s autocephalous status. - The Orthodox Church of Poland

The Poles gave a reasonable request in 1605-

In late 1600, a Polish-Lithuanian diplomatic mission led by Great Lithuanian Chancellor Lew Sapieha with Eliasz Pielgrzymowski and Stanisław Warszycki arrived in Moscow and proposed an alliance between the Commonwealth and Russia, which would include a future personal union. They proposed that after one monarch's death without heirs, the other would become the ruler of both countries. However, Tsar Godunov declined the union proposal and settled only on extending the Treaty of Jam Zapolski, that ended the Lithuanian wars of the 16th century, by 22 years (to 1622).

Poles have always been good for America. Their immigrants helped forge our country into the 20th Century superpower that helped save the world. Presently, their army provides a bulwark against possible Russian aggression against the west. Finally, their people showed the world how to stand up to Communism. Sorry if I don't think the Russkies are up to any good.

Both Poland and Muscowy spent the years from 1250 to 1793 battling over the Slavic lands between them. When the Mongols left, the Kievan Rus lands were divided. Many fell under the lithuanians (who kept old Byelorussian as their language of administration). Then Poland joined with Lithuanian in the late 1300s.

A hundred years later the Grand Duke Ivan III of a small city called Moscow, which had started off as a colony created by Vladimir-Suzlon (one of the original Kievan Rus cities) became chief tax-collector for the Great Khans and then usurped power from the Khans

Muscowy arguably took its form of government from the Mongols, with a supreme absolutist ruler.

Poland on the other hand was a messy democracy.

These were two extreme opposites, no wonder they could never see eye to eye -- it was not religion that separaed the two

it was not religion because a large % of the population of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth were Orthodox.

The Dukes of Moscow, when Constantinople fell, declared themselves to be the protectors of all Orthodoxy.

Because of this they claimed the ORthodox in the P-L commonwealth to owe allegience to them, the Tsars

you wrote:

“Sort of like asking the Nazis to forgive the Jews for making such a big mess in the gas chambers, or Democrats to forgive blacks for getting upset over being lynched.”

Sheesh! A wee bit cynical don’t you think? Neither the Poles or the Russians were as bad as the Nazis. Now, the Democrat lynchers, well...maybe.

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