Posługa kapelana w więzieniu świętokrzyskim w pierwszych latach Drugiej Rzeczypospolitej
The Chaplain’s Service in the Świętokrzyski Prison in the First Years of the Second Polish Republic

Summary/Abstract: In 1919, one hundred years after the dissolution of the Benedictine monastery of Holy Cross, Fathers Klemens Dąbrowski (1875-1953) and Jozafat Ostrowski (1890-1939) made efforts to recover that complex for the order. The authorities of the justice department, which just took over the buildings in Holy Cross monastery with the intention of to restore penitentiary functions there (the former abbey was converted into a prison in 1886) stood in the way. During the Second Polish Republic, the prison was not removed from Łysa Góra, and thus the monastery was not restored there. One of the forms of Father Dąbrowski’s activity on Holy Cross was the chaplain’s service. The author of the text describes the scope of duties of a prison chaplain, his relations with prison employees and inmates, as well as the circumstances of resigning from ministry on Holy Cross. The most important reasons include: unfavorable attitude of the prison wardens (and other representatives of the Ministry of Justice) towards monks, the distance of prisoners to religious practices, especially those convicted of serious crimes, and also the fact that the living conditions on Łysa Góra were very difficult. Father Dąbrowski pointed to numerous abuses in the functioning of the Świętokrzyski prison, but his comments were not taken into account, which in 1925 led to one of the largest rebellions of inmates in the Republic of Poland.

• Details
• Contents