Priests in France and National Education in this Country in the Inter-War-Hyphen

Abstract

Polish priests played a considerable role in the history of Polish education in France in the inter-war period. Their greatest activity fell in the early 1920s when a large wave of the Polish working-class emigration came to France. Thanks to the priests and the financial support of some French businessmen, Polish schools and day-nurseries were organized in many industrial mining towns of the northern and eastern France. Rev. Szymbor, Rector of the Polish Catholic Mission in France, propagated the Polish education.

The Polish priests exerted themselves for the Catholic character of this education. It finally led to a conflict with a group of the teachers who tried to maintain the lay character of the Polish school abroad. However, the concordat of the Church and the Polish Government considerably increased the influence of the priest on schools and stimulated the Catholic upbringing. Moreover, social Catholic organizations supported the Church. Consequently, in the 1930s there could exist independent schools run by the priests and nuns.