Lumen 2018

199 At the Crossroads considered all the evidence at its disposal and expressed his conviction that Fr. Papczynski, known for his exemplary conduct and religious observance, for fulfilling the duties of an instructor of rhetoric for many years, for his zeal in preaching the word of God, as well as for his other works in the Order of the Piarist Fathers, was unjustly, cru- elly, and scandalously imprisoned, and the only motive behind the Provincial Superior’s actions at that time was jealousy. With all the power of his authority, the bishop stated that Fr. Papczynski “has been and continues to be persecuted even though he is completely innocent.” 186 This testimony should be read by all those who have ever been critical of Fr. Papczynski’s conduct during the time when he was at the Piarists and either condemned him or expressed doubts as to whether such a religious could ever be a candidate to the honors of the altar. 187 The testimony given by a representative of the Church hierarchy is clear and cannot be overthrown by any libelous state- ment made later against Fr. Stanislaus, who, let it be emphasized once again, “was and is completely innocent” ( innocentissimum fuisse, et esse ). The General Visitation It was already on February 22, 1670, that Fr. Charles of St. Mary Pessau, Rector of Horna in Austria, was appointed to conduct a gen- eral visitation in Poland as well as to arbitrate in Fr. Papczynski’s mat- ter. He arrived in Cracow from Germany around June 10, 1670. 188 He arrived with a certain bias against Fr. Stanislaus, otherwise he would not have condemned him in a conversation with some “illus- trious man,” during his stay in Cracow, even before the beginning of the visitation, without having heard the accused first. 189 When the Visitator met with Bishop Trzebicki in order to present the reason for his visit in Poland, the bishop received him kindly and encouraged him to familiarize himself with the matter of Fr. Stanis- laus, whom he had taken under his protection. 190