Religion: Polish Persecution

In strongly Catholic (95%) Poland, where the Roman Catholic Church has had more freedom than in other Iron Curtain countries, the Reds last week cracked down. The Polish government published a decree making all church appointments, from bishops down to parish priests, subject to government approval. It provided that any member of the hierarchy who “carries out activities contrary to law” can be removed from his cure.

As a build-up for the move, the Communists in December arrested Cracow’s administrator, Archbishop Eugeniusz Baziak, and three weeks ago, in the same city, a military court sentenced one priest and two laymen to death after a trumped-up trial. The charge: spying for the U.S.