Church Faces The Past
The Polish church is preparing to face up to a tricky issue in its past. A Bishop from the south-western Wroclaw diocese has decided to form a commission which will investigate the involvement of local priests with the communist secret services.
This is the third such commission following those formed by Lublin and Warsaw-Praga bishops over the last year. Historians claim that 10 to 15% of priests and laymen who took an active part in the life of the Church were agents of the secret services.
A large part of the service's archives was destroyed in 1990 but some documents survived and they are currently held by the Institute of National Remembrance.