Published: 2023-12-20

Vatican and the creation of the Apostolic Administration in Upper Silesia

Damian Bednarski Logo ORCID

Abstract

The Vatican Apostolic Archive and the Historical Archive of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, though still not fully researched, help uncover the background of the establishment of the Apostolic Administration in Upper Silesia. The documents found there shed new light on the process of the election of Fr August Hlond SDB as the first head of the administration and later Bishop of the Silesian (Katowice) Diocese. Apart from the dominant narrative in the literature, saying that Hlond’s appointment was motivated by his acquaintance with Archbishop Achille Ratti, Apostolic Nuncio to Poland, who when travelling to Rome would often stop in Vienna, where the Salesian from a village near Mysłowice worked, there are also many indications that his contacts with Monsignore G.B. Ogno-Serra helped him be even better known in Vatican circles. What contributed to this appointment was also the German government’s strong disapproval of Fr Kubina as a candidate, as he was accused of political agitation and pro-Polish activities.

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Bednarski, D. (2023). Vatican and the creation of the Apostolic Administration in Upper Silesia. Silesian Historical and Theological Studies, 55(2), 119–134. https://doi.org/10.31261/SSHT.2022.55.2.01

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Vol. 55 No. 2 (2022)
Published: 2023-12-20


ISSN: 0137-3447
eISSN: 2956-6185

Publisher
Instytut Gość Media/Księgarnia św. Jacka

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