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21.04.2021

New peek into the KGB's secret operation against the Pope

Having identified the Holy See as a threat, the KGB and other Eastern Bloc intelligence agencies devoted substantial effort and resources to study that threat and neutralize it - as the latest compilation of communist security services records clearly shows.

"Pontificate of Many Dangers" book cover

“Pontyfikat wielu zagrożeń. Jan Paweł II w świetle dokumentów sprawy ‘Kapella’ 1979-1990” [Pontificate of Many Dangers: John Paul II in the Light of 1979-1990 "Kapella" case file] is one-of-a-kind collection of records generated by one of the communist intelligence operations, run by the First KGB Directorate of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic under the supervision of Moscow. It is an interesting contribution to the study of the relations between the USSR and the Holy See, as well as important source of information on what the KGB knew and thought about the activities of John Paul II.

The first document in the collection reads:

 

17 March 1980, Vilnius  

Decision of Lt. Col. Jonas Stasiulionis regarding the launch of the "Kapella" intelligence operation

Secret

 

Decision

Having reviewed the materials in my possession regarding the Vatican, I, Lt. Col. Stasiulionis, senior officer in charge of operations of the First KGB Directorate of the Lithuanian SSR, concluded that the 1978 election as Pope of the Polish Cardinal Wojtyła, who professes extremely anti-communist views, gives grounds to believe that there is a certain shift towards conservatism in the politics of the Vatican, and that greater stress will be placed on intensifying the fight against communism. For the purpose of obtaining and organizing data on the Vatican, and, if necessary, taking appropriate action, I decided to launch an intelligence and surveillance operation codenamed "Kapella", and register it in the reporting and archival file section of the First KGB Directorate of the Lithuanian SSR.

Senior officer in charge of operations of the First Directorate of LSRS KGB,

Lt. Col. Stasiulionis

 

Source: AIPN, 2553/407, vol. 1, sheet 12, manuscript

 

“The KGB versus John Paul II” is the topic of a panel debate that is to take place today at 3 at the IPN’s “History Point” Educational Center in Warsaw. The participants – Andrzej Grajewski, PhD (the book editor), Paweł Skibiński, PhD, DSc, Władysław Bułhak, PhD, DSc and moderator Rafał Łatka, PhD DSc, will discuss the significance of the KGB records, as well as the picture they paint: the powerful intelligence agency trying to cope with the new factor – the Polish Pope – that threatened to complety reverse the equation they controlled so well.

The debate will be broadcast on the IPNTv channel:

 

 

See our website devoted to John Paul II first visits to Poland https://pierwszapielgrzymka.ipn.gov.pl/ and https://drugapielgrzymka.ipn.gov.pl/, and download the English-language brochure about his life.

 


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