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, a s ...

Catholic 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 nea ...

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. 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 Civitas Christiana is a Dutch non-profit activist organization of Catholic inspiration. Through online petitions, mailing, books, and street activism it works to defend the traditional Christian understanding of the family and opposes abortion, the ...

". 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 The 1953 trial of the Kraków Curia was a public trial of four Roman Catholic priests and three lay persons of the Kraków Curia (Roman Catholic Church), Curia who were accused by the Communist authorities in the People's Republic of Poland of subv ...

pronouncing death penalties for the Catholic priests accused of treason, and took over the publication of the Catholic weekly magazine '' Tygodnik Powszechny'' until the Polish October 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 in

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 theory o ...

. Created by

Bolesław Piasecki Bolesław Bogdan Piasecki, alias Leon Całka, Wojciech z Królewca, Sablewski (18 February 1915 – 1 January 1979) was a Polish politician and writer. Biography In the Second Polish Republic he was one of the more prominent Polish nationa ...

, it approved the trial and imprisonment of many Polish clergymen, among them Bishop

Czesław Kaczmarek Czesław, ( cz, Česlav, be, italic=yes, Časłaŭ; Česłaŭ, lt, Česlovas) is an old given name derived from the Slavic elements ''ča'' (to await) and ''slava'' (glory). Feminine form: Czesława/Česlava. The name may refer to: * Ceslaus, ...

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. 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,'' Poland. Retrieved from the Internet Archive 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 at ...

PAX was an NKVD 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, 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. 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

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, from ...

* Jan Dobraczyński * Tadeusz Mazowiecki

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