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The conference, “The Holy See and Totalitarian Systems in the 20th Century: New Approaches and Research Perspectives,” was organized by the Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation (IPN), the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, and the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin will open the two-day event with an address on October 28.
Fr. Adam Szpotański, a researcher at the IPN Branch in Wrocław, Poland, explained that the initiative grew out of questions about the Holy See’s response to systems that oppressed societies and violated the independence of other states.
Poland and other countries of Central and Eastern Europe experienced the violence of more than one totalitarian regime during the last century.
Researchers will examine the reliability of the Vatican’s information about dictatorships' actions, and whether its diplomatic and Church networks enabled it to reach people suffering and provide effective assistance. They will also consider how the Holy See’s policies shaped the course of world events.
From saving the persecuted to reconciliation
The program spans the first confrontations with Bolshevism and extreme nationalism, through the Second World War, to communist regimes.
Topics include the assistance provided by religious sisters to persecuted people in Italy and the role of Vatican diplomacy in saving Hungarian Jews.
Other presentations will examine restrictions on the Church’s freedom in Czechoslovakia, the witness of Catholics in Romania, and the situation in East Germany. The conference will also address the Holy See’s relations with dictatorships in Latin America.
Poland’s experience will feature prominently, including Pope John Paul II’s approach to the communist regime, Archbishop Luigi Poggi’s efforts in the face of disinformation by the authorities of the Polish People’s Republic, and the role of Pope Paul VI and the Holy See in Polish-German reconciliation.
An international response to a difficult history
Fr. Szpotański said organizers received more than 65 proposed topics from around the world.
Researchers from numerous European universities and academic institutions have been invited to take part. Their contributions will allow a comparison of experiences across countries and different perspectives on the Vatican’s actions.
The conference will be accompanied by an Italian-language exhibition prepared by the IPN on the 1966 celebrations of the Millennium of the Baptism of Poland among Polish communities abroad. It will present photographs and documents from the Archive of the Church and Hospice of St Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr in Rome.
The conference will take place on October 28-29 in the Aula Magna of the Pontifical Gregorian University. Admission is free, and no advance registration is required. Papers will be presented in Italian, English and Polish.
Academic and organizational preparation
A Scientific Council and an Organizing Committee have prepared the conference.
The Scientific Council consists of Dr. Karol Polejowski, Deputy President of the Institute of National Remembrance; Fr. Mark Lewis, SJ, Rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University; and Fr. Marek Inglot, SJ, President of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.
The Organizing Committee includes Professor Emilia Hrabovec of Comenius University in Bratislava and the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences; Dr. Pierantonio Piatti, Secretary of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences; Fr. Jan Mikrut and Fr Robert Regoli of the Pontifical Gregorian University; Dr. Sebastian Pilarski, Director of the IPN Historical Research Office; and Fr. Adam Szpotański of the IPN Branch Historical Research Office in Wrocław.