PERSECUTION: PROTEST IN COMMONS

Envoys to the Vatican express nations' horror to the Pope
H1LE a packed audience in the Royal Albert Hall is making a mass protest next Thursday evening against the banishment of Cardinal Wyszynski, it is possible that the House of Commons will be debating an all-party motion calling on the Government to insist upon the Polish Primate's release.
This unusual development at Westminster follows close upon the extraordinary gathering at Castel Gandolfo last week.
Seventeen Ambassadors, II Ministers and five Charges d'Affaires of States having diplomatic relations with the Holy See, having sought a special audience of the Pope, made a united protest in his presence against the persecution in Poland and especially the action against the Cardinal.
The all-party debate, for which Lime is now being sought, has developed out of a motion of indignation raised by a small group of Labour M.P.s two weeks ago. This has now been tabled.
Concern for all Much of the credit for rallying M.P.s on both sides of the House to the realities of the afflictions of the Church in Poland belongs to Mr. David Logan. veteran Catholic Member for the Scotland division of Liverpool.
Mr. 1 ogan tabled ,ithe original motion. It was Mr. Logan again who took the initiative on Monday, determined to gain wider support on a problem which. he felt, was the concern of the entire House. irrespective of party or religious outlook.
His first intention was to put down a question. but he was defeated by the difficulty of finding words which would not be out of order. For no Minister of the Crown can answer a question which calls into account the actions of a foreign power for which he has no responsibility, and over which he has no control.
Even the wording of the all-party motion. which was Mr. Logan's next step. proved anything hut easy. But on discovering a 19th-century precedent which enabled him to surmount this technicality, he was agreeably surprised by the quick and generous response of the House.
Thirty signed
By Tuesday morning it was estimated that more than 30 M.P.s of both parties had signed the motion, whose terms reflect the sincere and strongly held feelings of the Commons as a whole.
The motion runs:
"That this House, deeply shocked by the renewed persecution of the Roman Catholic Church in Poland. welcomes the statement of the Foreign Secretary on November 5. 1953, in which he condemns the action of the Polish Government in arresting the Cardinal Primate of Poland and imprisoning one of the Bishops of the Roman Catholic Church on charges which can be seen to be the common propaganda of Communism, and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to inform the Polish Government that the present sense of repugnance which the persecution of religion rouses among the people of this country can only be dispelled by the release of the Cardinal Primate and of the imprisoned Bishop."
Strong feelings
The Bishop referred to in the motion is Mgr. Kaczmarek, 38-yearold Bishop of Kielce, who in September was sentenced to 12 years in gaol for alleged espionage.
The Conservative signatories of the motion include Sir Geoffrey Hutchinson, Mr. John Morrison, Miss Irene Ward and Mr. Hugh Fraser, with Mr. Richard Stokes. Mr. Leslie Hale, Mrs. Braddock and Mr. McLeavy among the Labour M.P.s who signed it.
The general view in the House is
that the Government has taken note of the strong feelings of the Commons, and will almost certainly make room for a short discussion of the motion.
What must he regarded as much less certain is any decisive step by the Foreign Secretary along the lines suggested by Mr. Logan and his associates.
Mr. Anthony Eden is unlikely to he present in any case when the matter is raised. He is due to leave for Bermuda next week with the Prime Minister.
The Government spokesman will probably be the Under-Secretary of State. Mr. Anthony Nutting. who recently outlined "official policy" on the issue of the Cardinal Primates arrest in a letter to Mrs. Eirene White. M.P.
Government views
Mrs. White took up the issue with the Foreign Office after receiving several telegrams from Catholic constituents in East Flintshire, and in his reply Mr. Nutting wrote:
"I do not think that the Polish Government can be in any doubt of the views of Her Majesty's Government or of public opinion in this country. Poland is not. however, an ex-enemy country, and we therefore have no status under a peace treaty to protest against the conduct of the Polish authorities.
"We feel also that a protest would merely lend colour to the fabricated charge that Cardinal Wyszynski and other dignitaries of the Church in Poland who have suffered persecution were agents of the 'Western Imperialists.'"
A Foreign Office spokesman told THE CATHOLIC HERALD this week: "There has been no change in policy since Mr. Nutting said that. It is obvious that no Government has the right to protest officially about a domestic decision taken by another Government. We have no direct locus standi in the Polish Government's action against Cardinal Wyszynski. It is not as though Poland had specific obligations to us as a defeated exenemy country under a peace treaty.
Abstract view
"A formal protest from London to Warsaw could do little good, and might do harm."
Members of Parliament, however, have clearly indicated by the all-party motion that they do not altogether share the abstract view of the Foreign Office.
In the opinion of two non-Catholic M.P.s who spoke with some feeling on the subject: "A debate can do nothing but good. It will demonstrate that the people of this country don't like religious persecution and are prepared to react vigorously against it.
"The Foreign Office may have to find a way of bringing that reaction to the notice of the Polish Government if the Government is pressed hard enough."