Apostolical Nuntio Angelo Roncalli Towards the Problems of Polish Emigration in France after the Second World War

Abstract

This paper presents a very interesting and important episode from Archbishop Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli’s; Roncalli was then Pope John XXIII who in the years 1944-1953 was Apostolic Nuncio in Paris (France). The problems and affairs of Polish emigration in France were not alien to him. This emigration after World War Two numbered 750.000. The Nuncio was vitally interested in Polish affairs, a fact that was expressed in his encounters with Polish Primate Cardinal August Hlond, Bishop Józef Gawlina, and with successive rectors of Polish Catholic Mission in Paris: Fr. Franciszek Ciegiełka and Fr. Kazimierz Kwaśny. Owing to his suport, among other things, the 1924 contract was kept valid after the war. It regulated the principles of Polish priests' pastoral work in France. The Nuncio in various ways supported the PCM and others Polish Catholic institutions in France. Polish affairs remained important for him after he was elected to the Apostolic See.