A Polish priest who publicly denounced the Kielce pogrom, in which 41 Jews were killed, has been stripped of his post and restricted in the exercise of his ecclesiastical duties, according to a report published today in Gazetta Ludowa, organ of Vice-Premier Stanislaw Mikolajczyk.
Father Henryk Werynski, of Cracow, had strongly condemned the Kielce outbreak from his pulpit and delivered a sermon on anti-Semitism. He had also stressed the desirability of a closer understanding between the Church and the government.
As Father Werynski had only recently denied the existence of any disagreement with superiors in the Church, the edict issued by Adam Cardinal Sapieha of Cracow and read in all the churches of the archdiocese last Sunday came as a surprise. The edict did not specify any reason for the action. Officials in the Warsaw office of August Cardinal Hlond, Polish Primate, declined to comment.
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