There are more churches in Poland, outside the Eparchy of Peremyshl', that are now in Polish RC hands - including the Greek-Catholic cathedral in Kholm, and a number of churches which Blessed Nicholas (Charnetsky) had served during the nineteen-thirties. In Koden - a relatively small village - there are TWO such churches. They first grabbed the larger church. When the Greek-Catholics built a smaller church for themselves, at the expense of the same Greek-Catholics, the Polish RC's proceeded to grab that - the metal supports for the icon-screen are still there.
In Berest', in the Polish Carpathians (the Lemko Region), the occupiers of our church had the colossal nerve to invite Bishop Isidore and some friends of his, including the undersigned, to attend a Polish Mass in our church and venerate the miraculous icon which was still there. We arrived to find our altar and icon-screen intact and ignored while the intruders were playing the guitars and boasting to us (in Polish) at how well they had maintained the building! Bishop Isidore turned to me and said quietly, in English "do they expect us to thank them?"
Fr. Serge
