Jedna rozmowa – dwie notatki. O spotkaniu kierownika Wydziału do spraw Wyznań w Katowicach Edmunda Łaty z biskupem koadiutorem katowickim Herbertem Bednorzem w 1966 r.
One Conversation, Two Sets of Notes. The 1966 Meeting between Edmund Łata, Head of the Department for Religious Denominations in Katowice, and Herbert Bednorz, Bishop Coadjutor of Katowice

Summary/Abstract: The opportunity to examine the respective accounts provided by both sides of a conflict, event or problem can offer valuable insights into the past and bring us closer to the actual course of events. This article presents and juxtaposes two sets of notes prepared by both participants in a meeting held on 5 March 1966 in the building of the d iocesan curia office in Katowice. The participants in that meeting included Edmund Łata, Head of the Department for Religious Denominations in Katowice, and Herbert Bednorz, Bishop Coadjutor of Katowice. The official visited the curia office in order to deliver a letter from the Prime Minister regarding the so-called “Bishops” Address’, a famous conciliatory letter from the Polish bishops to their German counterparts dated 18 November 1965. The Bishops’ Address did not dominate the meeting. The host largely dictated the course and the topics of the conversation, which he turned to the crucial problems of the official state policy on religious denominations in the Katowice diocese, and highlighted its repressive and discriminatory nature. The two sets of notes differ in their length and level of detail, presumably on account of the differences between their intended purpose, as well as the individual differences between the two men. It appears that the head of the Department for Religious Denominations was afraid to draw criticism for his visit on account of holding informal contacts with the Curia or treating the Church too favourably. As a result, his notes provide a detailed description of the circumstances and events leading up to the meeting. The bishop’s aim was to record the official position of Łata, and of the state authorities more generally, regarding issues that were relevant to the Curia and the diocese; as a result, his account is more concise and laconic than Łata’s. The two accounts are complementary. They demonstrate the mindsets, intentions and goals of both parties, their mutual attitudes, the atmosphere of the meeting and the character of the conversation, as well as what they felt were the most salient points of the meeting and the background of their conversation. The sources presented are interesting, given the unusual venue and formula as well as the topics discussed, both related to the official religious policy in the diocese, and related personally to Łata, which the bishop brought up during the meeting. The set of notes drafted by the official was located in the State Archive in Katowice, filed with the records of the Department for Religious Denominations and kept in the collection of the Voivodeship Office in Katowice. The bishop’s account was found in the Archdiocesan Archive in Katowice in a set of files concerning the talks and correspondence with state authorities that constitutes an integral part of the Substantive Records archival collection (Akta rzeczowe).

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