Bishop Sipovich new file

35 the news of a Belarusian priest spread throughout all units of the Polish armed forces. Apart from the soldiers there was also an unspecified number of Belarusian refugees scattered in various refugee camps, such as Bologna, Modena, Naples, Barletta-Trani, Galatone. There were also a few students in Rome. Visits to the camps were arranged. The material situation of the refugees and students was not very good, and Belarusian soldiers often came to the aid of their less fortunate compatriots, generally through the Belarusian Relief Committee (Comitato Caritativo Biancoruteno) which was established in Rome under the chairmanship of Father Haroshka. There were also meetings in Rome. One of the earliest took place on 3 November 1945. at which Father Haroshka read a paper about problems of religious life among Belarusians at home and in exile; a member of the Polish armed Forces Victor Siankievich spoke about the fate of Belarusian soldiers who were obliged to serve in foreign armies; and Father Tatarynovich read a chapter from his translation of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s Quo Vadis . By the middle of 1946 it was becoming clear that the Belarusians’ stay in Italy was temporary, as there were no conditions for permanent settlement. The three Belarusian priests had to face the problem of what to do next. One country which had a comparatively large group of Belarusians was France, where "Khaurus", a Belarusian organisation with its own bulletin and library etc had been in existence since 1932. During the war its chairman, Liavon Rydleuski, had taken part in the French resistance. As soon as the war was over, "Khaurus" resumed its activities. Also in Paris lived Mikola Abramtchyk, president of the Belarusian National Rada (Council) in Exile. Both Father Haroshka and Sipovich were in touch with him soon after the end of the war. As early as September 1945 he and Rydleuski made the first request for a Belarusian priest of the Byzantine rite in France. Father Tatarynovich belonged to the Roman rite, and in any case he had only just began his studies at the Oriental Institute. Sipovich had still to obtain his doctorate. There remained Father Leo Haroshka. The Oriental Congregation agreed, and by 24 October 1946 he was already in Paris. Thus the first Belarusian Catholic Mission to be officially approved by the Vatican was established. Before leaving Rome Father Haroshka wrote on 8 October 1946 to the Oriental Congregation , requesting that Father Sipovich should be sent to Great Britain as soon as was practically possible. Britain was the country with the potentially largest Belarusian community. First of all there were numerous Belarusians who had served in the ranks of the Polish Army under the general British command. These were all to be transferred during the course of 1946 from Italy to Great Britain and, after demobilisation, given the opportunity for permanent settlement there. Their number soon was to be swelled by the arrival from Germany of displaced persons under the European Voluntary Workers scheme. Obviously there was a need for a priest there. This problem was the subject of discussion at meetings in Rome with Belarusian members of the Polish armed forces. One of them was Dr Vincent Zhuk-Hryshkievich, a historian well known in the pre-war Belarusian community in Vilna. He had been arrested by the communists in 1939. In 1941, as a Polish national, he was released and allowed to join the Polish army which was then being formed in the Soviet Union, from where, via Iran and Middle East, it reached Italy early in 1944. Towards the end of the war the Polish Command organised a number of high schools to give soldiers the opportunity to finish their secondary education, which had been interrupted by the war. Zhuk-Hryshkievich taught history at one such school in Modena. It so happened that there was a number of Belarusian students there who formed the nucleus of a Belarusian organisation. Soon after arriving to Britain Zhuk-Hryshkevich and a group of Belarusians met on 22