Bishop Sipovich new file

61 Lithuanian Fathers by Fr Ceslaus Sipovich, MIC (hitherto £5200 has been paid, there remains still £3000 to pay), it was unanimously decided to transfer the title of ownership of ‘Marian House’ to the Belarusian Marian Fathers". The Marian General Council in Rome on 21 July approved "the transfer of the title of ownership of the house called ‘Marian House’ from the Lithuanian Province to the Marian Fathers of Belarusian origin". Thus the campaign to acquire Marian House as the permanent seat for the Belarusian Catholic Mission came to its conclusion. But the Mission was no nearer to owning the house: it remained the property of its former owners, the Congregation of Marian Fathers who thus achieved the impossible feat of having their cake and eating it. The so-called "transfer of the title of ownership" from Lithuanian to Belarusian Marian Fathers was a purely internal affair within that Congregation. This fact was unknown to many good Belarusians and their friends (some of them non-Catholics) from all over the world, who remained convinced that with their contributions they helped to secure a permanent place for the Belarusian Mission. A few people, however, seemed to have their doubts. On 1 June 1955 Sipovich wrote to Mr and Mrs Victor Ivanouski in London (Ontario): "Under separate cover I am sending a subscription list for Marian House. When you see it, you will understand how much effort it has cost me to secure the exalted patronage of the Cardinal of Westminster and other persons... I shall be grateful if you could find at least a few benefactors who would wish to put their names on the list...". Unimpressed by the "exalted patronage" Ivanouski answered (letter without date): "Until now I have collected $21... If the money is not urgently needed, then I would like to wait and send (later) a larger amount, say 50 dollars, because I hope to collect a considerable sum when you publish in the newspaper Batskaushchyna (Native country) an explanation who will be the owner of the house etc. You see, people are asking me, and Dr B. Rahula demands categorically a fuller explanation". It is not known whether there were other similar demands. Be it as it may, the Munich-based Belarusian paper Batskaushchyna (Native country) published the following letter of Father Sipovich in its issue of 3 June 1956: "At the request of some Belarusians I would like to declare publicly the following: the house in London (Holden Avenue N.12), known as ‘Marian House", in which since 1948 there has been a Belarusian Catholic chapel, is designed to serve the following purposes: 1. To provide accommodation to Belarusian Marian monks; 2. To carry out religious work among Belarusian Catholics in Great Britain; 3. To house a library, archives and museum, exclusively Belarusian or related to Belarusian studies. From the legal point of view the matter stands thus: the General Council of Marian Fathers gave formal permission for the purchase of Marian House for the above mentioned purposes, obviously, on condition that the means to cover the cost of the purchase could be found. There is no doubt whatsoever, that Marian House is intended for Belarusians, and will remain theirs forever. Today there are 12 Belarusian Marian priests in Europe, but until now they have had no opportunity to meet and work together. But even if there were such a possibility, they have nowhere to meet until Marian House is acquired. Older Belarusians who remember the monastery of Marian Fathers in Druia and their work among Belarusian young people and peasants, will know that Marian House will serve the same ends, although in different, more difficult circumstances of exile..." 33 . The rest of the letter consists of an appeal for donations. 33 "Kupla ‘Marian Hause’ u Londane", Batskaushchyna , No.23, Munich, 3.6.1956, p.4