Bishop Sipovich new file

58 Marian Fathers and the Secretary of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, whose names were conspicuous by their absence among the members of the Honorary Committee for the purchase of Marian House... Significantly in all the above appeals for funds there is no mention of the Marian Fathers. Thus the potential benefactors were led to believe that the house would be the property of the Belarusian Catholic Mission. Even those near to Father Sipovich were not aware of all the facts. On 24 December 1954 a letter appeared in the Catholic Herald entitled "A London Mission" and signed by the chairman of the Belarusian Catholic Unversity Union "Run", J. Pazniak. The author, after praising the work done by the "White Ruthenian Catholic Mission, temporarily established at Marian House, Holden Avenue, London N.12... under the enlightened and ever available guidance and sympathy of Fr Sipovich", goes on to say: "To continue this good work, an urgent appeal for help is made to the kind hearts of all people of good will... Especially, funds are necessary to acquire Marian House as a permanent headquarters for this Mission. For this purpose the Marian House Fund was inaugurated during the year under the gracious patronage of His Eminence Cardinal Griffin and His Excellency Bishop Sloskans, Apostolic Visitor for White Ruthenians, who has already generously contributed". Most of the members of the Honorary Committee are no longer alive, so it is difficult to know whether they were aware of the true state of affairs, but the letter of 2 December 1998 by one of them, Dr Vitaut Romuk from Chicago, to A. Nadson seems to suggest that they were not. Dr Romuk writes: "In 1953-54 I was living in London... In 1954 Father Sipovich asked me whether I would agree to put my name on the Committee for the purchase of Marian House as a permanent seat for the Belarusian Catholic Mission in England. I agreed readily, because the idea of having our own permanent religious centre appealed very much to me and to many other Belarusians... It was therefore with considerable shock that I recently learned that Marian House has remained the property of the Marian Fathers, and not of the Belarusian Catholic Mission in England. It seems to me that at the beginning I and the others were not given the true facts. I am sure that if we had known the truth, our response to the appeal would have been different... As a Catholic and a Belarusian I am very disturbed by what I have learnt. It has been my firm belief that the wishes of benefactors should be respected at all costs. It is not my aim to accuse anyone, but it seems that Belarusians were deceived. As for myself personally, I cannot help feeling that I have been used". Some of Father Sipovichs Belarusian private correspondents received still more scanty information. In his letter of 12 September 1953 to A. Kastsiukievich in Buffalo (USA) he wrote: "Now allow me to ask you a favour. After long deliberations I have decided to buy Marian House from the Lithuanians... Having considered the matter with all compatriots known to me, I have decided to start a collection for the purchase in order to establish in it (i.e. the house) a Belarusiam library, archives, and a place for meetings". Unlike the benefactors, the church authorities were informed of the true state of affairs. Father Sipovich wrote on 30 December 1954 to the Secretary of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, Cardinal Eugene Tisserant: "It was decided to establish in London a New Druia, but in order to do this it is first necessary to buy an appropriate house. This problem was solved easily, because the Lithuanian Fathers came to our help and expressed their willingness to sell on favourable terms their property Marian House, in which I have been living since 1949... In view of this, with the approval of the Superior General and the General Council of Marian Regular Clerics, and with the blessing of His Eminence Cardinal Griffin, Archbishop of