Maksymilian Rode

Maksymilian Rode

Maksymilian Rode (born September 13, 1911 in Rogoźno ; † July 6, 1999 in Warsaw ) was a Polish bishop of the Polish Catholic Church , previously a Roman Catholic priest and lecturer at the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw .

Live and act

education

Rode began in 1930 with philosophical studies at the Archbishop's Seminary in Gniezno , which he graduated in 1932, and then began a four-year theology study at the Archbishop's Seminary in Poznań . On 15 June 1935 Bishop donated his Walenty Dymek the priesthood . His pastoral work began in June 1935 in Swarzędz , in 1936 he received at the Theological field of Jan-Kazimierz University to Lviv the master's degree , and 1938 at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Warsaw the doctorate . In October 1938 he traveled to Louvain ( Belgium ) to deepen his studies in Catholic social teaching at the Ecole Politiques et Sociales .

time of the nationalsocialism

During the German occupation of Poland , he initially stayed in Niestronno (near Mogilno ), where he represented the pastor who had died there from September 7, 1939 to December 12, 1939. During his stay in Warsaw in early 1940, he was active in the resistance against National Socialism . He formed secret youth groups and organized aid for displaced people, including priests and nuns. He also sent packages to people who were held in concentration camps .

Rode was the founder and editor of the underground magazines Kultura Polska and Polityka Społeczna ( Social Policy ) and he also organized underground lessons. He was arrested by the Nazis on August 13, 1944 and deported to the Oranienburg-Sachsenhausen concentration camp, among other places . On April 27, 1945 he was liberated by US soldiers .

post war period

After the Second World War , Rode became the administrator of the Roman Catholic rectory in Głuszyn , and soon afterwards he took on the position of pastoral consultant at the Metropolitan Curia in Poznań. From October 1945 he worked as a lecturer at the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Poznan . In addition, he also held some church and social honorary posts. He also served from October 1946 Professor at the Higher Institute of Religious Culture, and at the Archbishop's Seminary in Poznań, plus from 1948 chief editor of the monthly magazines Wiadomości Duszpasterskie (pastoral Generic messages) and Miesięcznik Kościelny (Ecclesiastical Monthly Bulletin) and the weekly Glos Katolicki (Catholic Voice ). As the personal representative of Cardinal August Hlond, he also held political talks with the then ruling Prime Minister and Vice Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland .

1951 the first misunderstandings developed between the priest Rode and his superior, the archbishop Walenty Dymek. The reasons for this annoyance were Rode's disappointed hopes in obtaining church honors. His intimate contacts with women further intensified this conflict between the priest and his archbishop. The conflict lasted for a few years and ended with Rode giving up the priesthood in 1956 and getting married. The Office of Faith was just waiting for such an outcome. Because as someone who was suspended by the Vatican , with the reputation of a talented organizer, whose name was very well known in the Roman Catholic milieu, Maksymilian Rode became the most suitable candidate for the leadership of the Polish Catholic Church for the then state power. On December 20, 1958, he was appointed to the position of Vicar General of the Polish Catholic Church. The Council of the Polish Catholic Church elected him during its meeting on 9 June 1959 Bischof professor of this church. At the 4th All- Poland Synod , which took place in Warsaw from June 16-17, 1959, his election was unanimously confirmed by the Synod. He received his episcopal ordination in the Old Catholic Cathedral of St. Gertrud in Utrecht on July 5, 1959. From 1959 to 1965 he was head of the Old Catholic Section of the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw .

Bishop Rode worked in the international Christian Peace Conference (CFK) from its foundation until the mid-1960s and was a participant in the First and Second All-Christian Peace Meetings in Prague in 1961 and 1964.

Bishop Rode took a negative stance towards the primate of the Roman Catholic Church, Stefan Wyszyński . In his press releases he criticized his actions and the personnel reforms he carried out in the Roman Catholic Church, and he also claimed that the Primate called for the destruction of the Old Catholic Churches.

With the state power of the People's Republic of Poland, he enjoyed noticeable sympathy with this behavior and his appearance. The number of members in this church has grown steadily, and new parishes from all parts of Poland have been constantly added. But after a certain time, the authorities noticed that Bishop Rode's activities were decreasing and that the church seemed to be losing its missionary spirit. The state power of the VR Poland criticized that Bishop Rode was not creating dynamic changes, but that he was only increasing the wealth and administrative status of his church by subsequently adding further parishes, which were at odds with the Roman Catholic bishops, to this institution. In addition, both the clergy and ordinary members of his church accused their leader of increased arrogance, as did his self-designation as a primate. On November 1, 1965, Bishop Rode was forced to resign and Julian Pękała was appointed as the new bishop.

When Bishop Rode decided to take part in church life again, he was entrusted with several functions. He was judicial vicar at the ecclesiastical court, member of the council and the presidium of the synodal council, member of the pedagogical council of the synodal council, member of the editorial college and other committees.

Honors

• Golden Cross of Merit of the Republic of Poland
• Officer's Cross "Order of the Rebirth of Poland"

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Konrad Białecki: "The Maksymilian Rode Affair" as an example of the relationship between the communist rulers and so-called positive priests. In: S. Jankowiak, J. Miłosz (eds.): From the history of the Catholic Church in Greater Poland and West Pomerania. Poznań 2004, pp. 67-74
2. ↑ Konrad Białecki: Better Catholics. In: Biuletyn IPN 3/38/2004 - Warszawa 2004.
3. ^ Tomasz Terlikowsski: The Church in the Service of Communism. EAI.pl