172 PIOTR H. KOSICKI
tion of the Council’s debates, teachings, and legacy. As the Coun-
cil unfolded, Więź, Znak, and Tygodnik Powszechny published arti-
cle after article debating the proper bases of Catholic thought in
a postconciliar world.139 The ZNAK publishing house that printed
both the Więź and Znak monthly journals also published Polish
translations of canonical texts by Western European periti.140
In parallel, the five Catholic Intelligentsia Clubs attached to
those publications held regular debates on the Council and on the
future of the Church. By 1965, the Warsaw club alone had hosted
1732 meetings and 1432 talks. Even Polish critics of Vatican II have
acknowledged the heuristic power of “open Catholicism.” For ex-
ample, the late Polish politician Wiesław Chrzanowski, a long-
time political prisoner of Stalinism and a committed exponent
of Polish Catholic nationalism, described himself in 2006 as a
“closed Catholic,” making a point to underscore the contrast with
ZNAK.141
The single most important theoretician of “open Catholicism”
was Juliusz Eska, a Warsaw-based editor for Więź. Because of his
limited language skills, Eska never achieved the prominence of
many other leading lights of the rich cast of characters inhabit-
ing the ZNAK movement. Janusz Zabłocki, for example, became
Więź’s conciliar correspondent only after Eska turned the assign-
ment down for want of competency in spoken French and Ital-
ian.142 Yet Eska had two major strengths: a clear and penetrating
- In 1963, in Znak alone: Hans Küng, “Sobór, odnowa i zjednoczenie,” Znak,
no. 107 (1963): 530–60; Jean Guitton, “Czym jest Kościół?,” Znak, no. 107 (1963):
561–75; Karl Rahner, “O schemacie De Ecclesia,” Znak, no. 114 (1963): 1477–83.
The next year, Znak was the first journal to publish remarks made by Archbishop
Wojtyła concerning Schema XIII: Karol Wojtyła, “Chrześcijanin a kultura,” Znak, no.
124 (1964): 1153–57. - Chenu, Lud boży w świecie, trans. Zofia Włodkowa and Halina Bortnowska
(Kraków: Znak, 1968); Emmanuel Mounier, Wprowadzenie do egzystencjalizmów oraz
wybór innych prac, ed. and trans. Janusz Zabłocki (Kraków: Znak, 1965). - Wiesław Chrzanowski, Interview with author, November 3, 2005; Roman
Graczyk, Chrzanowski (Warsaw: Świat Książki, 2013). - Zabłocki, Dzienniki, 1:488–89.