Bishop Sipovich new file

60 Since the potential benefactors knew nothing about the plans to make Marian House a new Druia, it is difficult to avoid accusations of deception, or at least of what the moral theologians call "mental reservation", i. e. witholding part of the truth. In this case the fact made public was the intention to make Marian House the permanent seat of the Belarusian Catholic Mission. What remained unsaid was that the house would be owned not by the Mission but by Belarusian Marian Fathers. Thus the "permanency" would be conditional on the Marian Fathers remaining in charge of the Mission. The line which divides mental reservation from a lie is very fine, and for this reason it must be used with great caution, usually in cases when someone has no right to be told the truth. And benefactors naturally have the full right to know the truth about the intended use of their money, and demand that their wishes should be respected. In 1954 the Belarusian Marian community at Marian House consisted of two persons: Father Sipovich and Brother Nicholas, aged 40 and 51 years respectively. Realistic prospects for growth were practically nil. The only candidate, John Sadouski, who came in 1948 and went to Rome to study, left the Marian Congregation in autumn 1953. There was no hope of getting Belarusian Marians from Poland, and in any case they all belonged to the Roman rite and were no longer young. This did not discourage Father Sipovich. He began collecting money in 1953 without waiting for official approval. Thus in June of that year he made visits to Belarusian communities in Coventry, Birmingham, Nottingham, Newark and Newport (in Wales) and came home with the enormous sum of... £6. In September 1954 Father Sipovich paid a visit to Ireland. His trip was organised by a group of members of the Legion of Mary, most of them Irish, who since 1950 had been coming regularily to Marian House. It was not a pastoral visit because there were no Belarusians in Ireland. As an attempt to raise money for Marian House it was a disappointment. The second visit in May 1957 was no better, although Father Sipovich saw the founder of the Legion of Mary, Frank Duff who gave £2 for Marian House, and was received by President de Valera who said that all requests for help should be addressed to the Irish bishops. He failed to obtain an audience with the Archbishop of Dublin, while the Vicar General received him "politely but coldly". The link with the Legion of Mary started in 1950 on the instruction of Buchys. An "Eastern praesidium" of the Legion was established, with its seat at Marian House. Its members were pleasant and pious young people, with more enthusiasm than knowledge, full of good will and ready to help. Some of them later developed a serious interest in Eastern Christianity and helped to revive the Society of Saint John Chrysostom. The fund-raising campaign started seriously late in 1954. Belarusians and their friends responded most generously to Father Sipovich’s appeal. Early in 1956 he was already able to pay the first £1000 to the Lithuanian Marian Fathers. This was followed by another £1000 a year later. In September of 1957 he embarked on a three-months tour of the United States and Canada. Although fund-raising for Marian House was not the only reason for his going there, it figured prominently in his plans. He visited Belarusian communities in New York, Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit in the United States, and Toronto and London (Ontario) in Canada. He came back on 13 December with nearly $6500 ($3000 of which was a grant from the National Catholic Welfare Conference), or over £2000 according to the rate of exchange at that time. With more donations coming, by February 1959 the total sum paid to the Lithuanians was £5200. On 8 July of that year the Lithuanian Fathers made the following decision: "Since the greater part of the money for ‘Marian House’ has been paid to