"He Was a Great Man"

The Communists continued their crusade against religion behind the Iron Curtain.

In Bulgaria's parliament last week, Foreign Minister Vassil Kolarov introduced a bill to close down religious organizations with "foreign ties." The bill described the Soviet-controlled Orthodox Church as "the People's Democratic Church."

At the same time, the Bulgarian press began to publish the "confessions" of the 15 Protestant leaders indicted for treason. Methodist Yanko Ivanov was said to have admitted giving the U.S. information "on Russian troop movements in Bulgaria." Congregationalist Vassil Ziapkov was quoted: "We betrayed our Motherland, we revealed her secrets before enemies."

Still the focus for the Kremlin's drive was Joseph Cardinal Mindszenty. While he awaited a final ruling on his life-term prison sentence, the Hungarian Communists roared against the "Western warmongers," whose "slander-and-lie campaign" was "attempting to capitalize on the Mindszenty trial." It was clear that the Reds were still trying to establish a working relationship with the Catholic Church--on their own terms. Last week Hungary's Bench of Bishops received a letter--supposedly written by Mindszenty and similar to the one read during the trial--urging an agreement. At week's end, the bishops had not given their answer. But in Rome, the Pope once more sweepingly denounced Mindszenty's jailers and warned Catholics of the dangers inherent in subservience to totalitarian states.

On his way home, after being asked to leave by the Hungarian government, U.S. Minister Selden Chapin had his own comments: "No one, except the blind and twisted, can fail to see that the Hungarian people are under the complete, total domination of a group of Moscow-trained Communists whose sole allegiance is to the Kremlin." Of the cardinal he said: "It is impossible to explain the transformation of that lion who was chief of the Hungarian Catholic Church."

Pointedly using the past tense, he added: "He was a great man."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.