ŚLĄSKIE STUDIA HISTORYCZNO-TEOLOGICZNE

Vatican and Paul VI on the Millennium of Poland’s Baptism (according to the Ambassador Kazimierz Papée’s Account)
The celebrations of the Millennium of Poland’s Baptism in 1966 spread not only across the Church in Poland, but it was also the Polish community abroad as well as Pope Paul VI who joined them.
The text refers to a few events proving the pope’s spiritual and physical connection with the Poles at that time. Thus it describes the efforts concerning the realization of the planned (but never happened) pilgrimage of Paul VI to Jasna Góra, the pope’s participation in the inauguration of the Roman celebrations of the Millennium (13 January 1966), his welcome of the Polish pilgrims and deliverance of a homily to them on 15 May 1966, as well as emphasis placed by the pope on the role of Poland in the Christian Europe during his speeches directed to the cardinals in June and December 1966.
The author based his analysis mainly on the little known and rarely cited documents, stored in the Pontifical Polish Institute in Rome. They include notes, reports and letters of the the ambassador Kazimierz Papée. These documents were confronted with the notes of Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński, written in the millennial year.

Martyrology of Polish Clergy from Zaolzie during World War II
In Martyrology of Polish clergy under German occupation in the years 1939-1945, in the part devoted to the Diocese of Katowice, a group of priests from Zaolzie can be found. The reason for this lies in the fact that in 1938 a fragment of lands beyond the Olza River became a part of the Diocese of Katowice. During the Second World War this territory was marked by severe repressions of Polish Catholic clergy. Many priests were put in concentration camps and prisons; a few of them were murdered; still others died after the release as a result of hard prison experiences. It was their admitting the Polish identity and faithful standing by the Church that condemned them to prison or concentration camps. The list of clergy from Zaolzie is supplemented with a register of the Polish priests persecuted by Germans in the years 1939-1945.

DIE ERWACHSENENKATECHESE IN DER DIÖZESE KATOWICE
Der Diözesanbischof dr Herbert Bednorz bespricht in seinem Inaugurationsreferat die Anfänge der Erwachsenenkatechese in der Diözese. Diese sind zur Basis der Beschlüsse der I. Diözesansynode geworden, da viele Laienteilnehmer der Synode aus der Erwachsenenkatechese sozusagen hervorgegangen sind. Heute sind in der Diözese verschiedene Arten der Katechese - von der okkasionellen zur systematischen - zu verzeichnen. Die Methoden der Erwachsenenkatechese sind noch nicht voll ausgearbeitet, und es ist mitunter das Ziel dieses Symposiums dazu beizutragen sie weiter zu entwickeln. Dabei sollte man besonders die Form des Dialogs berücksichtigen. Man muss auch die ständige Weiterbildung der Priester in Betracht ziehen, denn - neben ihrem eifrigen Einsatz - ist sie ein wichtiges Element im Ausbau und Gelingen der Erwachsenenkatechese.