71 them: on the contrary, isolation between these communities was deliberately upheld. To Russians, a “Catholic” meant a Pole, while the term “Orthodox” designated a Russian. The Russians regarded conversion to Catholicism as a dishonor, a betrayal of the church and the homeland. The religious situation in the Russian colony in Harbin became a point of interest of the Pontifical Commission, Pro Russia, working under the auspices of Pope Pius XI who had the matter of reaching out to the Russian Orthodox Church and winning it over to Catholicism close to his heart. For example, one of the tasks that he insistently instructed the clergy to fulfill was “to bring spiritual and material help to the poor people in Eastern Europe.” Appraised of the situation in Harbin, Pius XI instructed the Pro Russia Commission to canonically erect the Harbin Ordinariate for the Russians, which took place on May 20, 1928. The City of Harbin was designated as the seat of the Ordinariate, with the chapel of St. Vladimir, which has since been elevated to the rank of a parish church. Reverend Gerard Piotrowski, Apostolic Administrator for Catholics in all of Siberia, exercised power over the Catholics of the Eastern Rite. The Russians did not like Piotrowski, he was known to be a classic Latin scholar, despising Russian Orthodoxy and promoting polonization, which confirmed the Russians’ worst suspicions and deprived the mission of any chance for positive and fruitful work among them. Initially, without being aware of the situation, the Holy See supported Piotrowski’s actions. In 1928, Fr. Fabian Abrantowicz – a Marian from the monastery in Druja, was appointed to the office of the Ordinary of the Eastern Rite. Father Fabian was a Belarusian. He knew the Orthodox faith well and Russians from direct contacts. His ardent desire was to stay in Belarus and work in Druja a mong his countrymen. From the moment that he left Europe, he became “God’s emigrant.” By accepting his posting to the Harbin mission, Fr. Abrantowicz allowed God to “uproot” him from all of his previous plans and desires. Pius XI emphasized that the goal of the newmission was not the conversion of the Russian Orthodox, but the creation of an opportunity for them to come into contact with authentic Catholicism, to get to know it, to learn its value, because only in this way would it be possible to break the wall of prejudices built under the tsarist regime. Father Abrantowicz
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