Communist Totalitarian Regime and the Status Quo of the Catholic Church in the Context of Post-War Reality of Poland (1945–1956)
Communist Totalitarian Regime and the Status Quo of the Catholic Church in the Context of Post-War Reality of Poland (1945–1956)
Author(s): Ryszard FicekSubject(s): Politics / Political Sciences, History
Published by: Uniwersytet Jana Długosza w Częstochowie
Keywords: totalitarianism;Stalinism;the dictatorship of the proletariat;Catholic Church;communism;personalism
Summary/Abstract: This article presents the specificity of the totalitarian communist regime and the status quo of the Catholic Church operating in the Polish People’s Republic in the early post-war period (1945–1956). The analysis of the discussed topics allows one to expose the nature of the Stalinist systemof repression described as the “dictatorship of the proletariat”, taking into account the tough andchallenging situation of the Catholic Church, forced not only to fight for her survival but – aboveall – to preserve the Christian identity of the Polish nation. The reinterpretation of the Stalinisttotalitarian system from the standpoint of Christian personalistic praxeology discloses its unprecedentedlyoutrageous nature. Moreover, the presentation of the fundamental issues of the totalitarian,anti-human, and anti-Christian paradigm that characterizes the “dictatorship of the proletariat”makes it possible to interpret Stalinism in terms of not only defining but also legitimizingand even authenticating one of the most terrifying and degenerate forms of totalitarian systemsof the 20th century. However, this is of crucial importance, specifically today, when many emergingideological trends often downplay the excessively iniquitous nature of Stalinism and even treatthe “totalitarian model” – particularly communism – as a “specific historical phenomenon” attemptingto resolve many complex and diverse socio-political, cultural and economic issues
Journal: Res Politicae
- Issue Year: 2021
- Issue No: 13
- Page Range: 61-81
- Page Count: 21
- Language: English
