154 PIOTR H. KOSICKI
reason that he had sought accommodation with the Polish Com-
munist apparatus fifteen years earlier: a sense of pastoral respon-
sibility for the souls of Catholics living in Communist Poland.
In the end, the Polish bishops adopted a moderate stance in
Council debates on communism, asking only that the final docu-
ments reflect existing Church teachings in, among others, Rerum
novarum and Quadragesimo anno. As Schema XIII evolved into the
draft of Gaudium et spes in 1965, Polish bishops joined the ranks
of 450 conciliar participants from eighty-six countries insisting
that the constitution’s section on atheism reiterate earlier papal
teachings. Even following Paul VI’s personal intervention, how-
ever, this initiative produced only a single footnote, to Article 21
in the final version.
In this instance, the pope offered the Polish bishops political
cover, recognizing that they were in a tough spot and taking a
clear stance against communism—so that they would not have
to do so. In a private audience with Wyszyński in December 1965,
on the day following the Council’s conclusion, Paul VI explained,
For sure, something should have been said during the Council against
communism, and in no uncertain terms, yet that could have caused
you all harm.... Please trust that we are cautious not out of fear, but
out of love. We trust you. We proceed with caution and wisdom, al-
though our heart breaks when we see the torments that you endure.
We earnestly admire and support you through prayer. The Mother of
God is triumphant and will triumph here as well. 85The Virgin Mary
The other declared priority of the Polish Council fathers—the
Virgin Mary—proved to be politically problematic, too. Marian
devotion had been a central feature of Roman Catholicism in Po-
- Wyszyński, Zapiski milenijne: Wybór z dziennika “Pro memoria” z lat 1965–
1967 , ed. Maria Okońska, Mirosława Plaskacz, and Anna Rastawicka (Warsaw: Soli
Deo, 2001), 22.