Bishop Sipovich new file

46 difficulties surfaced soon afterwards. The Russians arrived without any letters of recommendation from Buchys or the Oriental Congregation. When they asked the Catholic Commitee for European Volunteer Workers for permission to visit workers’ hostels, they received a reply from the Secretary, in which he said: "I quite realise that you have been sent here to do work under obedience. It is precisely for that reason that the more correct procedure would have been for the Marian Congregation to approach the Authorities in England before sending you over... Therefore if your Congregation wishes you to work in this country I would suggest that an approach be made from Rome to His Eminence Cardinal Griffin". They next approached the Apostolic Delegate, who suggested: "In my opinion it would be useful to refer the question to the Oriental Congregation (Sarebbe utile, al mio parere, di riferire la questione alla Congr. Orientale)". That was the situation six months after their arrival. Lacking official recognition, the Russian priests tried to do something on their own initiative. They founded what they called grandly the "Russian Catholic Centre of Byzantine Slavonic Rite in Great Britain", with its address at Marian House. Father Sipovich was not overjoyed, but said nothing at first, until an incident occured which made it impossible to keep silent. One day there was a meeting of the "Russian Centre" at Marian House. In the common room, where the meeting took place, there were usually various Belarussian, Russian and English newspapers. Someone before the meeting collected all Belarusian papers and hid them away, presumably so as not to hurt the delicate feelings of Russians. Father Sipovich, who had been out, came back sooner than expected and saw what had been done. An unpleasant situation arose. This and other similar incidents eventually convinced Father Sipovich that it was a mistake to have Russian and Belarusian pastoral centres in one house. He explained this to Buchys in the autumn when he was in Rome, only to be accused of exaggerated Belarusian nationalism. Father Sipovich took it very hard. During the annual retreat which he made in Rome in the first week of October 1950, there are the following notes: "Would it be against the perfect obedience: 1) to expose one’s own reasons to the superior; 2) try to induce the superior to a greater good; this greater good being supported with various serious reasons and the judgement of one’s confessor; 3) to appeal from the lower to higher superior, from Father General to the Holy See (when the matter is very grave)". Father Sipovich wrote a letter to the Secretary of the Oriental Congregation, Cardinal E. Tisserant on 23 October in which he explained the difficulties which had arisen in his work due to the arrival of the two Russian priests. He says: "These Fathers came to London under religious obedience, but... it seems to me that our Superior General, H. E. Mgr Buchys did not take into account certain circumstances". Then he goes on to explain those circumstances: 1. No consideration had been given to whether Russian Catholic Mission in England was necessary, and if so, how to organise it. 2. No consideration at all was given how to coordinate two different kinds of work in the same house and in the same small chapel. Buchys wrote an instruction on how the three priests should behave, but this instruction had no effect on the nationalist misunderstandings which are being painfully felt also in the religious sphere. 3. For many Orthodox Belarusians who frequented Marian House the presence of Russian priests would furnish arguments against the Catholic Church under the pretext that the latter favoured the Russians. This was at a time when the Belarusian Orthodox Church was being reestablished: in the summer Bishop Basil (Tamashchyk) visited England and established a Belarusian Orthodox parish in Bradford.