In the Russian city of Vologda the church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was renovated, which in russian times the communists took from Catholics. After the temple was restored, however, it was not returned to the rightful owners or Catholic Church, but was handed over to Lutherans. Local Catholics perceive this as discrimination against the Church and Poles in Russia. There are unfortunately more examples of specified treatment of our brothers and sisters in faith.
Vologda was the place of exile of many Poles during the Czarski era. There were so many in this city that with the aid of Catholics of another nationalities, they built the neo-Gothic church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The church was erected with contributions of Catholics, mainly Poles. The temple was solemnly consecrated in 1913. Unfortunately, it was not long before the parishioners of Volozda enjoyed the church. As early as 1929, the Bolsheviks took distant their temple and set up a russian pioneer club. The priest, as in the Bolshevik custom, was sent to Siberia.
After 1990, erstwhile russian times seemed to have passed, Volost Catholics demanded the return of their church. Unfortunately, their requests remained silent. The state unlawfully sold the temple to a private owner who arranged a restaurant in the church. The restaurant died soon. Again, however, the temple was not returned to Catholics, but a private owner in temple walls organized a nightclub. Isn't that a mockery? However, the old advocacy proved to be actual – “He who mocks is later ashamed” and the nightclub went bankrupt.
The entrepreneur who hides his identity yet came to the conclusion that since the walls of the church were dedicated to God, no another activity, but religious, has a chance to be here. However, the aversion to Catholics and Poles did not let him to bring the substance to an end fairly. alternatively of rightful owners – Catholics, the church passed on to Protestants, precisely Lutherans. An entrepreneur in social media, without revealing his individual data, stated that he did not like Catholics and would surely not give them the temple.
The Lutherans, on the another hand, explain in social media that they accepted the gift, for “it is better that the temple should be praised to God, not that it would stand empty and destroy.” It is not known to what degree these Lutheran translations comfort the Catholics of Volosta, who want to attend Masses and services, inactive gotta compression into a private flat and dream about getting their church back.
It is likely that he will not return to Catholics, after the ongoing renovation, the neo-Gothic church of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Smolensk. This temple was erected, from donations of Polish Catholics, in the late 19th century. The Bolsheviks stole the church and the parish priest drove it to Siberia, where he was killed working besides hard. At the temple, for ridicule, the communists set up the NKVD office. After 1990, it stood empty and destroyed, although the parishioners from that time to this day have sought its return. The Moscow Archbishopship, to which the parish in Smolensk belongs, says that, after the renovation, there is no chance that the temple will be restored...
It is not only that the Russians do not want to give the Catholic Church their own temples, but they destruct churches located in Ukraine. During Russian aggression against this country, at least 4 Catholic and 3 Greek Catholic churches have already been turned into a rubble.
In Russia, hatred of the Church goes hand in hand with hatred of Poland. This negative attitude towards Poles is presently peculiarly powerfully pursued by Russian propaganda. This gives bad fruit in the form of demolition of Polish memorial sites. The last example of this is the demolition of the National Army's monument complex in Borowice-Jogła in the Novgorod region of Russia. The memorials commemorated the martyrdom of the underground soldiers of independency who suffered and died in russian camps. From 1944 to 1946, in the Borowice camp complex, which was 1 of the largest and heaviest camps in the north-western part of the USSR, more than 600 Poles died from starvation, illness or exhaustion and were buried in nameless graves. This year, erstwhile the statues of our heroes were destroyed in Russia, 80 years have passed since these crimes.
The list of Polish memorial sites devastated in Russia continues to grow. So far we know that 3 memorials relating to the commemoration of Polish sybirac were destroyed in the Tomic region. The cross was dismantled in the village of Polozowo and the plaque with names of Poles shot was broken, the cross was destroyed in the Polish village of Białystok and the plaques “Poland remembers”, in Tomsk were removed. On the another hand, in the Irkutsk region, in Karelia and the Permsk country, the markings of memorial sites dedicated to the Poles shot by the NKWD were dismantled.
Is it possible to realize the hatred, which in Russia destroys sacred places for Poles, wants to destruct the memory of the crimes committed there on our countrymen? That is answered by a priest who served in the East for many years. – The Russian government does not like Poles and their memorial sites, due to the fact that they are a remorse for them. These russian crimes in Poles are so large that they, destroying our monuments, want to disown them from their consciousness– This is Fr Andrzej Sańko.
Adam Białous
