„Anticlerical” Propaganda in the Press of Western Pomerania up to 1956. History of the Fight of the Communist Authorities against the Catholic Church in Poland

In years 1945-1956 in subsequent political and propaganda campaigns the communist press tried to undermine the authority of the Catholic clergy in the society. The article presents the involvement of the local West Pomeranian press in such campaigns. It points out that during the subsequent campaigns this press tried to prove that the criticism of the clergy was not the fight against the religion. It was constantly emphasised that the Catholic faith enjoyed full freedom in the People’s Republic of Poland. The charge of lack of patriotism and subordination to directives from Vatican was levelled against the Church hierarchy and the part of the ordinary clergy. The Holy See was presented as the enemy of the Polish state and nation and as the ally of German revisionists challenging the Polish western border. In 1953 the authorities considered the Primate Stefan Wyszyński as their main opponent in the country