Bishop Sipovich new file

40 "13.VII.47. Sunday service at Brompton Oratory. About 30 people present... At 2 p.m. the conference of President M. Abramtchyk at Linden Gardens, and about 8 p.m. – evening in memory of Ianka Kupala (arguably the greatest Belarusian poet who died, probably murdered by the Soviet secret police, in 1942 – A.N .)... Everything was fine and pleasant, but tiring". In 1948 various East European national associations formed the Central Coordinating Committee of Refugee Welfare Organisations (CCCRWO). Its chief aim was to represent the needs and defend the rights of the European Volunteer Workers (EVW) vis-à-vis the British authorities, help solve difficulties arising from restrictions on the choice of employment and the compulsory two-year contract etc. Father Sipovich represented the Association of Belarusians on this Committee from its beginning till 1960. In the meantime Father Haroshka in Paris had organised a parish, established contacts with Belarusian communities in other places and launched a religious journal calledd Bozhym shliakham (On God’s way). The first issue appeared in October 1947. Initially practically all the material was written by Father Haroshka under various pen-names. But from the third issue Father Sipovich became a regular contibutor to the journal. Other contributors followed, and Bozhym shliakham became one of the best and most serious Belarusian religious and cultural publications. About the same time, in a letter dated 27 October 1947 the Apostolic Delegate informed Father Sipovich of the permission of the Oriental Congregation for his work to be called "Mission to the Catholic Whiteruthenians (i.e. Belarusians – A. N .) of the Byzantine Rite in England". Then the letter continued: "As there is not at the present moment in England a Russian Catholic priest of Byzantine Rite, you have the authority to concern yourself, practically, and pending other instructions, with Russians". Thus 27 October 1947 can be considered the official date of the establishment of the Belarusian Catholic Mission of the Byzantine Rite in England. It was, after France, the second officially established Belarusian Mission. The pastoral care of Russian Catholics was entrusted to Sipovich without his ever having asked for it. Nevertheless he did what he could, giving spiritual assistance to those who were in need of it, which was after all his duty as a priest. Despite his limited involvement with Russians, Sipovich succeeded in acquiring among them a few valuable friends. One of them was Count George Benningsen, a Russian aristocrat of Swedish origin, a modest and good man, and a convinced Catholic. He had left Russia soon after the end of the First World War and the establishment of Soviet Communist rule in that country, and settled permamently in London. There he was one of the first members of the Society of Saint John Chrysostom, founded in London in 1926 with the aim of making Eastern Christianity known among English-speaking Catholics. Benningsen helped Father Sipovich with advice and valuable contacts. Incidentally it was he who arranged the meeting with Archbishop Sava. Later both men worked together for many years in the Central Coordinating Committee of Refugee Welfare Organisations. Among other acquaintances at that early period mention should be made of Anne Christich, a Serbian Catholic (her mother was Irish) who had been active since the 1920s in the field of Christian Unity. She became a staunch friend and supporter of Father Sipovich. But there were clouds gathering on the horizon. They came from Germany, where the bulk of Belarusian refugees was still living in the refugee camps. Among them were bishops of the Belarusian Orthodox Church who had escaped from the Soviets. During the German occupation in 1942, at a Synod in Minsk, the independence, or autocephaly, of Belarusian Orthodox Church had been proclaimed.