Antykościelna międzynarodówka. Współpraca polskiego Urzędu do spraw Wyznań z jego odpowiednikami w państwach „demokracji ludowej” (1954–1962)
The Anti-Church International. The Cooperation of the Polish Office for Religious Denominations with its Counterparts in the States of the “People’s Democracy” (1954–1962)

Summary/Abstract: In the administration structure of the states within the so-called people’s democracy, specialized bodies were created on the initiative of Kremlin to take care of planning, coordinating and implementing the policy on religious denomination. Because the scope of their competences was equivalent as a rule, irrespective of local circumstances (this also referred to the main goal, i.e. striving to destroy or subordinate religious institutions to the state), they had a basis to enter into institutional cooperation between each other. The article presents the real story behind the establishment of formal relations between the Polish Office for Religious Denominations and its counterparts in the states of Central and Eastern Europe: the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the Hungarian People’s Republic and the German Democratic Republic. It reveals that they were not fruitful at the beginning, particularly if compared with intensive contacts between the Czechoslovak and Hungarian departments for religious denominations. The situation changed in the second half of the 1950s. Visits, revisits, international meetings with the participation of employees of the administration for religious denominations of the states of the Eastern Block made it possible to share experiences and formulate a policy towards Churches and religious associations, even globally.

• Details
• Contents