The PAX Association () was a pro-

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

organization created in 1947 in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million ne ...

at the onset of the Stalinist period. The association published the ''Słowo Powszechne'' daily for almost fifty years between 1947 and 1993 with an average of 312 issues annually. The first editor-in-chief of ''Słowo Powszechne'' (circulation: 40,000) was Wojciech Kętrzyński (d. 1983) from KN, grandson of historian

Wojciech Kętrzyński Wojciech Kętrzyński (born Adalbert von Winkler; 11 July 1838 – 15 January 1918), was a Polish historian and the director of the Ossolineum Library in Lemberg, then the capital of Galicia, Austrian Empire. He focused on Polish history at a ...

. In 1982 the newspaper adjusted its name to ''Słowo Powszechne: dziennik Stowarzyszenia PAX'' (the "PAX Association Daily"). The publication closed only when the PAX ceased to function in 1993, following the

collapse of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Natio ...

; however, the facsimile of the association was reestablished in 1993 under a different name: the Catholic association " Civitas Christiana". Stowarzyszenie "PAX".
2007 ''Katolicka Agencja Informacyjna''. Retrieved November 7, 2011. Notably, in 1953 the PAX gave its support to the Stalinist show trial of the Kraków Curia pronouncing death penalties for the Catholic priests accused of treason, and took over the publication of the Catholic weekly magazine ''

Tygodnik Powszechny ''Tygodnik Powszechny'' (, ''The Common Weekly'') is a Polish Roman Catholic weekly magazine, published in Kraków, which focuses on social, cultural and political issues. It was established in 1945 under the auspices of Cardinal Adam Stefan Sa ...

'' until the

Polish October Polish October (), also known as October 1956, Polish thaw, or Gomułka's thaw, marked a change in the politics of Poland in the second half of 1956. Some social scientists term it the Polish October Revolution, which was less dramatic than the ...

of 1956.

Communist era

Following the Soviet takeover, the PAX Association had been formed with the intention to undermine grass-roots support for the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Stalinist Poland Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theor ...

. Created by Bolesław Piasecki, it approved the trial and imprisonment of many Polish clergymen, among them

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ...

Czesław Kaczmarek and

Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...

Stefan Wyszyński Stefan Wyszyński (3 August 1901 – 28 May 1981) was a Polish prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the bishop of Lublin from 1946 to 1948, archbishop of Warsaw and archbishop of Gniezno from 1948 to 1981. He was created a cardinal on ...

. PAX attempted to compete with the conservative clergy of the interwar era over public policy issues, especially after the arrest of hundreds of priests by the state security in early 1950s.Kościół w Polsce po tzw. procesie kurii krakowskiej
''(Church in Poland following the so called Trial of the Kraków Curia)''. Photo-exhibit. ''

Institute of National Remembrance The Institute of National Remembrance – Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation ( pl, Instytut Pamięci Narodowej – Komisja Ścigania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu, abbreviated IPN) is a Polish state resea ...

,'' Poland. Retrieved from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

on February 15, 2013. The government gave it total control over the Polish branch of the Caritas relief organisation. According to

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a Welsh-Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Professor a ...

PAX was an

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

front organisation, set up to win over Polish Catholics to communism, and to break their links to the Vatican. It maintained a presence in the

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland ( Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of ...

, winning, for example, five seats in the 1969 election.Nicholas Bethell, ''Gomulka'', Penguin Books, 1972, p. 244

Reforms

After 1956, together with many other similar government initiatives, it was toned down and took a more compromising position, in some regards even supporting the leniency for the anti-communist resistance in Poland, even though it firmly endorsed the communist government of the

until the

fall of communism The Revolutions of 1989, also known as the Fall of Communism, was a revolutionary wave that resulted in the end of most communist states in the world. Sometimes this revolutionary wave is also called the Fall of Nations or the Autumn of Nat ...

. After 1982 it was a member of the

Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth Patriotyczny Ruch Odrodzenia Narodowego (PRON, en, Patriotic Movement for National Rebirth or National Renaissance Patriotic Movement) was a Polish popular front that ruled the Polish People's Republic. It was created in the aftermath of the ma ...

. Throughout the decades after its creation and the death of Stalin, it continued to steadily lose power and influence, although it still exists in modern Poland.

Notable members

* Bolesław Piasecki *

Janusz Zabłocki Janusz Zbigniew Zabłocki (18 February 1926 – 13 March 2014) was a Polish politician, journalist, Catholic activist, lawyer, soldier of Armia Krajowa. Life He was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki. He studied law at the Jagiellonian University The ...

Jan Dobraczyński Jan Dobraczyński ( Warsaw, 20 April 1910 – 5 March 1994, Warsaw) was a Polish writer, novelist, politician and Catholic publicist.Encyklopedia PWN (2017)Dobraczyński, Jan.Internetowa encyklopedia PWN In the Second Polish Republic between ...

Tadeusz Mazowiecki Tadeusz Mazowiecki (; 18 April 1927 – 28 October 2013) was a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist Polish prime min ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pax Association Organizations established in 1947 Polish People's Republic History of Poland (1989–present) History of Catholicism in Poland 1947 establishments in Poland National Democracy Christian socialism Left-wing nationalism