Bishop Sipovich new file

2 fee-paying coeducational school, – a feature rather unusual at that period, – with fees varying according to whether children came from the families belonging to the Druia parish or from elsewhere. There were also non-Catholic pupils, in particular children of Druia Jewish families, but their fees were accordingly higher. Apart from day pupils there were also boarders. The boy boarders lived at the monastery under the supervision of a priest. The boarding house for girls was run by sisters of the Eucharist, a female congregation founded by Blessed George Matulewicz, of whom more below. The idea of a Belarusian monastic foundation in Druia came from Blessed George Matulewicz (1871-1927), who was Bishop of Vilna in the years 1918-1925. A Lithuanian, conscious of his national identity, he spent most of his life in Poland, where he was highly respected as an exemplary priest, full of apostolic zeal and deeply concerned with social justice. In 1909 he secretly joined the Marian Fathers, a religious congregation founded in the 17th century in Poland, but which at that time was on the point of extinction because of the policy of the Russian government which did not allow Catholic religious orders to accept new candidates. Matulewicz became Superior General and gave the Marian Congregation a new constitution, adapted to the necessities of the time. He also established a novitiate in Fribourg in Switzerland, far from the eyes of the Russian secret police. After the retreat of the Russians during the First World War, the Marian Fathers came into the open and established their houses in Poland and Lithuania. In December 1918 Matulewicz became Bishop of Vilna. This city was a bone of contention between newly independent Lithuania and Poland, and became eventually part of the latter. The situation of Matulewicz was delicate. A Man of God, he wanted to be the pastor and father to all members of his flock, and maintained that his field of action was the Kingdom of Christ, and not human politics. Unfortunately the fact that he was Lithuanian made him suspect in the eyes of the Polish authorities and nationalistically disposed clergy. What angered them most, however, was the bishop’s attitude towards Belarusians, who formed the largest part of the faithful of his diocese. Belarusians were in a difficult position. According to the Polish policy of an "ethnically-uniform state", they were due for assimilation. The Catholic Church was expected to play an important role in this process of assimilation. In the words written in 1923 by the representative of the Polish government in Vilna Province, Walerian Roman, the Catholic Church was expected to be the most powerful factor "in polonising the local population with hitherto undefined national identity". Matulewicz could not permit such a blatant use of the Church for political ends. But he could do little to prevent it. His efforts to satisfy the legitimate religious demands of Belarusians brought accusations of encouraging "Belarusian nationalism".The establishment of a strong Belarusian religious centre in the form of a House of Belarusian Marian Fathers seemed to be the best solution in the circumstances. This was done in May 1924 in Druia. The first superior was Father Andrew Tsikota (1891-1952), an exemplary priest and able administrator. He was soon joined by other Belarusian priests, among them Father Joseph Hermanovich (1890-1978), a well known Belarusian poet and the favourite teacher of Ceslaus Sipovich. Marian Fathers were also in charge of the Druia parish, which covered several neigbouring villages and hamlets. The monastic church of the Holy Trinity served as the parish church. At the beginning of 1930 the parish had 5024 parishioners, of which 3274 were Belarusians. The remaining 1754 comprised