Lumen 2018

claimed that, according to the constitution issued by Pope Urban VIII on June 21, 1625, those religious houses that had fewer than twelve members were under the jurisdiction of the local bishop. The Piarist residence at Kazimierz was, indeed, such a house because only six religious lived there at the beginning of 1670. Regarding the last accusation, charging that Papczynski was spreading some pernicious views, we do not really know what views the accuser had in mind. It should be also kept in mind that many slanderous opinions about Fr. Stanislaus were being spread at that time, and he himself spoke about them only in general terms. 155 Father Opatowski’s letter to the Superior General with the infor- mation about Papczynski’s incarceration reached Rome around Feb- ruary 20, 1670. It immediately became a subject of the discussion held during a session of the General Council on February 22, 1670. Based on the accusations presented in the letter (and mentioned above), a decree was formulated, in which the Provincial Superior’s decision to lock up Fr. Stanislaus in the monastery prison was ap- proved and he [the superior] was ordered to put Fr. Papczynski on trial for those and other offences. In the second part of the decree, Fr. Charles of St. Mary Pessau was nominated Visitator General to the Polish Province and charged with the mission of investigating Fr. Stanislaus’s cause. 156 The aforementioned visitation took place only during the summer of 1670. Father Papczynski’s painful experiences during this period revealed his great virtue and the strength of his spirit, which is evident in the conclusion of his Apology : “I am not saying, my dearest brothers, that they should be ashamed (for I do not desire anybody’s shame) of such hatred for me, of having broken the laws so many times, and of giving me so many reasons (many of which and the gravest of which I will not even mention) that have contributed to my decision to leave your community. Rather, I pray that they repent. I am justly suffering for my sins, and what are you to expect? Fromme [you can expect] — a true love with which I want to be animated. From God, who knows what is in our hearts and souls, [you can expect] — a 193 At the Crossroads