Home Again, Home Again

The Rev. Stanislaus Orlemanski of Springfield, Mass. (TIME, May 8, 15) got home from Moscow last week. He arrived in the U.S. by plane via Alaska, where, finding himself short of funds, he borrowed $200 from a U.S. Army chaplain at Fairbanks. To photographers at Seattle he shouted: "You should be at the front fighting instead of staying at home taking pictures." At reporters he wagged a stubby finger: "I am a tired man. It is good to get home but I have no other statement to make." When they persisted, he threatened to "give somebody a trimming."

Man to Man. But by the time he reached Chicago, Father Orlemanski had decided to turn the other cheek. The idea for the trip, he said, was his own. Last January he wrote Secretary of State Cordell Hull asking for a passport to visit Russia "to investigate for myself and study the Polish question." He wrote twice before he received a reply. Then he was referred to Manhattan's Russian consulate. To Father Orlemanski's intense surprise, the answer came not from Manhattan but from Moscow--"direct from Marshal Stalin personally inviting me to come to Russia."

Said the first Roman Catholic priest whom Stalin ever invited to visit him: "1 found him very democratic, very open. As an American citizen I stood up as man to man and talked to Stalin. I told Stalin that the most important problem to solve is the religious problem. He said, 'How would you go about this? What would you do?' I told him I wanted to ask one, two or three questions."

Comrade and Catechist. Father Orlemanski: "Do you think it admissible for the Soviet Government to pursue a policy of persecution and coercion with regard to the Catholic Church?" Stalin: "As an advocate of the freedom of conscience and of worship, I consider such a policy to be inadmissible and precluded." Father Orlemanski: "Do you think that the cooperation with the Holy Father, Pope Pius XII, in the matter of struggle against coercion and persecution of the Catholic Church is possible?" Stalin: "I think it is possible." Stalin then signed the two written questions, gave Father Orlemanski permission to make them public.

Further Orlemanski revelations: "I went to Moscow not as a representative of the Catholic Church, nor as an ambassador of the U.S. State Department, but as a private citizen. ... I am not a Communist and I plainly said so in my public address to the Polish Army. ... I belong to no faction, no clique, nor party."

As for Poland (from which the U.S.-born priest's parents came to the U.S.), Father Orlemanski declared that he had "wonderful news," but it would be revealed "at a later date."

Meanwhile, Washington's Monsignor Michael J. Ready had declared that the priest's trip was "a political burlesque.'' (Father Orlemanski, aggrieved at such "vulgar words," declared it was "not a burlesque but high-class opera.") Nor was Monsignor Ready impressed by Stalin's signature: "What we need from Stalin is his declaration of full religious freedom in Russia, not his signature."

Next day Father Orlemanski's parishioners rousingly greeted their flying pastor at the Springfield railroad station. He described them as 100% behind him except for "a couple of rats who try to stir things up."

Four hours later Diocesan Chancellor George A. Shea served Father Orlemanski with a two-page typewritten document from Bishop Thomas Mary O'Leary. The Bishop suspended Father Orlemanski from his priestly functions, bade him retire to a monastery "until further notice." Reason: 1) absence from the parish over Sunday without permission; 2) "treating with Communists." Said Chancellor Shea: "That's the whole problem here, isn't it? Treating with Communists?"*

Father Orlemanski's calm cracked. He pounded his desk. Said he: "This will be a more interesting story all over the world, it is so wrong." Three Crosses. Then he described his fix in a Biblical image that might well have made tonsured scalps crawl. "I am willing to be crucified for my Church be cause I went to Moscow for my Church and I can state that I have two other brothers who are priests, and they will be crucified with me, and there will be three.

I have done nothing immoral, nothing transgressing God's law." He cried: "I have definite plans concerning both the Poles and the Church.

Stalin gave me a promise that he will do all in his power to cooperate with the Church so there will be no persecutions.

That is why [the "wonderful news" about Poland] was secret. . . . Stalin knew that I was going to give it to the Apostolic Delegate. I went to take up the question of the Church in Poland, the Ukraine and White Russia. Stalin said 'No,' he wanted it to be universal . . .against persecution of the Church any where.

"Let's make a test case on religion. If we can't have faith in Stalin on religion, how can we in material things? He is not only willing to cooperate with us materi ally, but morally. ... If Stalin violated his word, it would concern not only the Roman Catholic Church, but all Churches -- that's why these two questions carry so many answers." Yours in Christ. Father Orlemanski was worried about how Stalin would react to Bishop O'Leary's action. Said he sadly: "I shouldn't think he would feel good about it. I tried to do this on my own and was successful. Although I am a small man I have something in my hand. I required his signature and he gave it to me. If there is anything in this letter [Stalin's] that is supposed to be wrong then I am being punished for doing good to my own Church. If he hears things like that then Stalin will be irritated." Later in the day Father Orlemanski rallied, sent a crisp reply to Bishop O'Leary, "Dear Bishop : You are hereby notified that I am no longer under your jurisdiction, but the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Delegate in Washington, D.C.

Sincerely yours in Christ, Rev. Stanislaus Orlemanski." Said Apostolic Delegate Amleto Gio vanni Cicognani in Washington: Father Orlemanski has not "contacted the Apos tolic Delegation." He also said that Father Orlemanski, "like every other diocesan priest is directly subject to his Bishop." Last Sunday Father Orlemanski did not officiate at the four Masses attended by most of his 3,200 parishioners. By nightfall he had disappeared. Next day he was re ported to be suffering from nervous ex haustion. A complete rest was prescribed.

Chancellor Shea did not know when Father Orlemanski might reappear. He said: "It is usually customary to wait until a matter like this has quieted down and then settle it privately." In the Catholic Church, the Soviet Gov ernment had at last run into an opponent whose political astuteness matched its own.

*Wrote Pope Pius XI in a 1937 encyclical: ''Communism is intrinsically wrong and no one who would save Christian civilization may collaborate with it in any undertaking whatsoever."

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