Franz Hengsbach – Polish Pastor, Bishop and Cardinal

One of the Ruhr bishop’s dearest concerns was reconciliation with the Polish people. His correspondence with bishops in Poland laid the foundation stone for closer relationships and normal dealings between Germans and Poles. Hengsbach regarded his correspondence not only as the “crowning moment” of the meetings between Germans and Poles in Rome, he also saw it as a commitment to the future. In mid October 1965 he noted “In the spirit of the Council! Out of care for our neighbours! Out of the total responsibility for the church, the Polish and German bishops will maintain the lively exchange of ideas and experiences which began so happily in Rome. In this way they wish to serve the peace that is so necessary between both peoples“.[4]

In the following decades Hengsbach devoted his efforts to fulfilling the spirit of what he had written, especially when dealing with extremely sensitive themes which divided the two nations like the Oder-Neisse border in particular. In summer 1966 he took up a very clear stance on this question when he visited a place of pilgrimage called Neviges to address a gathering of Poles from the whole of West Germany. Here he stated “that attempts at reconciliation between Poland and Germany should never fail because of disputes about the eastern border“. He also defended his views over against Germans who had been driven out of Poland.[5]

During the Catholic week in Bochum in 1970 he referred back to the immigration of Polish citizens into the Ruhrgebiet in the 19th century. Hengsbach appealed to his audience: “Where international policies contradict the spirit of Christ they can never be a secure basis for coexistence. [We want] – and I say this deliberately from the middle of the Ruhrgebiet where thousands and thousands of relations of the Polish people have made their home for generations – nothing other than to encourage the growth of a fraternal relationship between both peoples in utter sincerity and in a dialogue of honesty. We shall endorse all the necessary preconditions to achieve this.“[6]

When talking to the press about his correspondence in 1965 and his commitment to German-Polish understanding Bischof Hengsbach never forgot to refer to the years in which he cared for Polish Catholics in Herne. This justified him in being predestined to be responsible for questions about German-Polish church relations within the German episcopate. At the same time, particularly as a result of this experience, he also felt duty-bound to speak out in favour of a reconciliation between the two peoples and to work for it.

In subsequent years Hengsbach was able to demonstrate his commitment to reconciliation on several occasions, whether in his function as head of the Commission of the Conference of German Bishops responsible for contacts with his Polish counterparts, or as co-organiser of the first official visit by a delegation of Polish bishops to West Germany in 1978 under Wyszyński, and the visit of a German delegation to Poland in 1980. We should particularly note Hengsbach’s commitment to the sufferings of the Polish people following the repression of the Solidarność movement at the start of the 1980s. In April 1981 he set up a “Help for Poland“ initiative in his diocese in order to provide Poles with food and financial support. This action contributed to giving Polish people a positive image of Germans, something which official reports in communist Poland did not allow. Thus it is no surprise that Bishop Hengsbach received high praise for his commitment in Poland and Germany and was honoured as the “spokesman of reconciliation”.[7] In 1988 he was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II. When, in November 1990, German and Polish bishops met to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the correspondence between both episcopates in the cathedral at Gniezno just a few weeks after the reunification of Germany, they did so as representatives of the Catholic Church in a united Germany and a free Poland. Although Bishop Hengsbach was unable to take part in the celebrations on health grounds he must have been aware of having contributed personally to the successful conclusion of an historic process. His many years of striving to reconcile Germans and Poles, that had its roots in his pastoral care for Poles in the Herne suburb of Baukau was a “particular fruit” of his priestly service.

Severin Gawlitta, June 2014