Bishop Sipovich new file

42 Herald F.A. Fulford. Sipovich’s English was limited at that time, and he, as he later admitted to friends, spoke part of the time in Italian, hoping that the correspondent who knew some Spanish would understand him... He remained pleased with the interview until, on Friday 16 January, he saw on the first page of the Catholic Herald an article "by a Staff Correspondent" with the sensational title "The Pope Has Sent A Russian Priest Here to Convert the Orthodox". The article began thus: "Fr Sipovich is in London at the desire of the Pope to convert some 1,000 Russians in this country. He wants English Catholics to help him". And then a little further down: "Romance attaches to Fr Sipovich’s arrival here; he is part of the efficient machinery set up by the late Pope Pius XI to tackle the Russian question, and which the present Pope is developing through the now famous Russicum college in Rome...". Father Sipovich took it very hard. He wrote in his diary on the same day: "I received 100 copies of Catholic Herald , in which there is my photo and an article with the sad title: ‘The Pope has sent a Russian priest here to Convert the Orthodox’. I am very upset because what is written there about my national identity does not correspond to the truth, and (because of) many other mistakes. I never thought that the Catholic Herald would print an article about me without letting me see it first. This is the greatest cross God has sent me since I came to England. Only God’s providence can now put things right again. He is my only hope." On 30 January the Catholic Herald printed Father Sipovich’s reply, in which he tried to correct the false impression created by the article. Among other things he wrote: "...As regards conversion, both of Whiterutenians and other people, the policy of the Holy See is well known. Much as is desired the reunion of all Christians in one fold, cheap proselytism has always been condemned... I am not a Russian, but a Whiteruthenian (Byelorussian) priest of Byzantine Slavonic Rite, and I have been sent here to work for Byelorussians, and certainly not to force my ministry upon Byelorussians and Russians." Unfortunately, as often happens in similar cases, many people who read the article might not have noticed Father Sipovich’s reply, tucked away among other letters to the editor. Others ignored it deliberately, as did the editors of Abjednannie who printed Fulford’s article in full in Belarusian translation under the title "Who is Father Sipovich and why did he come to London" 30 , conveniently forgetting to mention Father Sipovich’s reply. The unexpected result of the article in the Catholic Herald was that many English Catholics who were interested in Eastern Christianity heard for the first time about Father Sipovich. Thus on the next day after the publication of the article, on 17 January he received a telegram from Cambridge inviting him to come to celebrate the liturgy and give a talk to a group of University students about Eastern Christianity. Two days later he received a letter from Donald Attwater (1892-1977), a well known author of several books on Eastern Christianity. On the same day he met Dom Bede Winslow (1888-1959), a Benedictine monk from Ramsgate, founder and editor of the Eastern Churches Quarterly ... Other contacts followed, culminating on 6 May in the splendid gift of vestments for a Byzantine priest and deacon, chalice, paten and all furnishings for the Byzantine chapel. The gift came just in time: two days later Father Sipovich moved to the place which was to become his residence for the rest of his life. 30 "Khto taki Aitsets Sipovich i chaho ion pryiekhau u Londan", Abjednannie , No.1, London, March 1948, p.15