Bishop Sipovich new file

28 misdemeanour. On 10 January he left for France to join the army to fight against the Germans. Sipovich was very upset with the treatment meted out to Aniskowicz and tried to save him, even by writing to Tsikota to accept him in Harbin for a probationary period. All to no avail. Life in war-time Rome seemed pretty normal, although it lost its usual boisterousness. Priests and students of many nationalities were forced to leave because of hostilities between Italy and their countries. Sipovich made a note in his "Chronicle" on 19 May 1940: "The Rector of the Russicum, Fr F. de Regis is leaving for France. Many students are sorry for him". In a letter to Fr Tsikota of 11 May he wrote: "Not long ago Aniskowicz C. sent me perhaps his last letter: he is leaving for the front, asks to take care of his belongings... We are all sorry for him. Belgians and Dutch are hurrying home, to war". For Ceslaus Sipovich, along with his studies, it was a time of intensive spiritual preparation for receiving the holy order of priesthood. The great day came on Sunday 16 June 1940. During the Pontifical Liturgy in the church of Saint Anthony the Great which was attached to the Russicum, Bishop Alexander Evreinoff bestowed the order of holy priesthood on deacon Ceslaus Sipovich. A week later the new priest wrote to Fathers Tsikota and Hermanovich in Harbin: "I do not undertake to describe my various feelings, especially at the moment of my receiving the priesthood. They somewhere touched on what in a man is called the essence; and since the essence is invisible, so those feelings cannot be expressed in words. I only wish not to darken them with lifes patina, but to present them such as they were in that happy moment before the throne of the Good God". On the next day the new priest celebrated his Liturgy at the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore at the altar before the icon of the Mother of God "Salus populi romani". On the following day Liturgy in the chapel of the Marian College at via Corsica. At the time of his ordination Sipovich had only just finished his third year of theology, and needed another year to complete the course for the licenciate. So in October he went back to the Gregorian University. There also the war was having its impact: not only students, but six of the professors were unable to return to resume their teaching duties. For Father Sipovich this was supposed to be the last year in Rome, after which he had to go to Harbin. But as the time was drawing near, something happened. It seems that Tsikota did not insist on his coming immediately. Sipovich wrote to him on 18 June 1941: "After receiving your letters the General Council decided to leave me for another year here in Rome, on condition that I finish my licenciate now, and next year obtain my doctors degree. Bishop Peter (Buchys A.N .) has made me understand that the reasons for my going to Harbin as soon as possible are very important; therefore if I am given another year, I must make the best use of it... I am very, very grateful to Father Archimandrite (Tsikota) for not insisting and to the Bishop for not forcing me to go. For myself I wish to say that I would fly like a bird to you, but what use to you is a bird with an empty head...". Four days later, on 22 June 1941 the German-Soviet war broke out. It was followed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour on 7 December, which forced the United States to enter the war. It was hardly a propitious time to set out on a journey across the world. There was another, personal, reason: Sipovich failed the final oral examination for the licentiate in Theology, and not once but twice, in June and then again in October. There is a note in the "Chronicle" on 18 October 1941: "Fr C. Sipovich sits the examination for the licentiate at the Gregorian University for the second time, and for the second time he fails (Lennerz, S.J.). What will happen next is