Bishop Sipovich new file

11 the Union Conference of Polish bishops of the Eastern provinces, outlining a plan for pastoral and missionary work among Belarusian population. The plan was rejected by all bishops present. As years went by, his time was taken more and more by the affairs of Druia and, later, the whole Marian Congregation. Consequently less was heard about him in the Belarusian community. It seems therefore that Tsikota’s biographer Thomas Padziava was unfair to those whom he calls "Belarusian nationalists", who, according to him "formed a wall of silence around the person of Father Andrew" 13 , apparently because Tsikota founded in Druia a Polish, and not Belarusian, school. Having said that, it must be stated that the Congregation of Marian Fathers was Tsikota’s spiritual home. The following Christmas greeting to Abrantovich, written on 15 December 1937, sheds interesting light on his frame of mind: "I pray God that the monastic vows which were born together with Christ in the manger in Bethlehem, may become for you the source of light, strength and joy, and that you may find in them one hundred times more than in what you have left in the world". This loyalty to the Marian Congregation sometimes seemed to influence his judgements. Thus on 8 January 1928 he wrote to Buchys about Charniauski, who left Druia without finishing his novitiate: "Charniauski abandoned the novitiate of his own accord. Monastic life would be difficult for him. He lacks the spirit of piety, obedience, modesty; is attracted to secular life and does not show due caution when talking with women". It seems that all these flaws in Charniauski’s character were suddenly discovered after he had decided to leave the Marian Congregation: only a few weeks earlier he had been proposed for an important and responsible job. Incidentally Father Charniauski died in 1979 in the United States at the ripe age of 85, respected and loved by all who knew him and experienced his goodness and generosity. In short, Andrew Tsikota was a strong character who often inspired respect and admiration, but perhaps lacked the warmth of Hermanovich. His single- mindedness must have made it difficult for many people to get on with him. Ceslaus Sipovich retained a strong admiration for Tsikota till the end of his life. It was his dream to write a book about him, for which he was collecting material for years. It may well be that his unquestioning loyalty to the Congregation of Marian Fathers, which sometimes clouded his generally sound judgments, was due to Tsikota’s influence. Perhaps it was fortunate that in 1928, when Sipovich joined the juniorate, the man in charge of the education of youth was not Tsikota, but Hermanovich. On 21 July 1933 at the General Chapter of Marian Congregation in Rome Tsikota was elected Superior General for the next six years. In normal circumstances Buchys would have been reelected for a second term, but he asked to be excused on the grounds that he would like to give more time to his work in the Commission "Pro Russia". Two months later, in October 1933, d’Herbigny fell into disgrace and was banned from Rome for the rest of his life. Buchys at that time was in the United States, and it seems that no one took the trouble to inform him about what had happened. Deprived of his protector, he became something of an embarassment: no one knew what to do with him. After six years in the wilderness, in 1939 he was again elected Superior General of the Marian Fathers and remained in this post almost to his death in 1951. 13 Op. cit . p.24