Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Letter of Reconciliation of the Polish Bishops to the German Bishops (Polish: Orędzie biskupów polskich do ich niemieckich braci w Chrystusowym urzędzie pasterskim) was sent on 1965, 18 November by Polish bishops of the Catholic Church to their German counterparts. In this groundbreaking letter they declared: "We forgive and ask for forgiveness". It was one of the first attempts at reconciliation after the tragiedies of the Second World War, in which Germany invaded Poland and both Poland and Germany lost millions of people and additional millions were expulsed from their homes. Among prominent supporters of this letter was Archbishop Karol Wojtyła, after 1978 better known as Pope John Paul II.

Widely-publicised in churches of Poland, the letter caused a strong reaction of the communist authorities. Władysław Gomułka saw it as clearly aimed at countering his propaganda, which saw West Germany as the main external enemy of Poland and hostility between Poland and FRG as one of the main warrants of social order in the so-called Recoverred Territories. To counter the threat of losing control over people's minds, the communist authorities reacted with anti-German and anti-Catholic hysteria. Primate of Poland was denied a passport for his trip to Rome and on January 15, 1966 Gomułka announced preparations for state celebrations of the 1000 years of the Polish state, intended as a counter measure against the church-sponsored celebrations of 1000 years of baptism of Poland. Most of German linguists were forced to sign a letter of protest; those who refused were fired from their universities. In addition, in 1966 the authorities twice refused a planned visit of Pope Paul VI in Poland. The following year the PUWP planned to limit the number of religious schools, which was also seen as a penalty for the Letter of Bishops.