Apr 13
The Danger of a Faithful American
The Continental Congress labored late into the hot, sweltering night in Philadelphia for the birth of our new nation. The beauty of this document is that our Founding Fathers made it exceptionally clear that the purpose of the new nation’s government would be in service of the people. In order to accomplish this goal, they acknowledged a “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.” In other words, America is a nation dependent on God. Many principles follow from this foundation in faith which helps to ensure life, liberty and happiness for its citizens. By examining the life of one particular Pennsylvanian, Fr. Walter Ciszek, the wisdom of the Founders will be evident as will be the differences between these two very different systems of communism and freedom.
Undoubtedly, the Founders understood that men are the creators of government, not government the creator of man. Since man is created by God and his rights emanate from Him, the government is not at liberty to take them away. On the other hand, communism is based on an atheistic ideology where man exists to serve the state and only has the rights which the state allows him to hold, which could be withdrawn at any moment for any reason. In America, the ability to truly live, be at liberty and pursue happiness depends on the responsibility of the person. Under communism, it is extremely difficult to live without liberty, and excruciatingly difficult to pursue to happiness—as happiness under communist rule is only found by serving the state.
One man who experienced the profound differences between living a life in American freedom and suffering under the communist rule of the Soviet Union was Fr. Walter Ciszek. He was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. Walter grew up to be a bit of a neighborhood ruffian; he was a street fighter who generally stubborn and behaved atrociously in school. While still in grammar school, Walter’s father was ready to send him to reform school until a policeman advised “him it would be more of a family disgrace to send him away.” Walter was no stranger to exercising his rights; in fact he got into a lot of trouble on multiple occasions from showcasing them a little too profoundly. Walter refers to himself as a “tough” and not in good sense; he was quite stubborn.
Fr. Ciszek was ordained on June 24th, 1937 in Rome and yearned to be a missionary in persecuted Russia but his bishop assigned him to Albertin, Poland. In 1939, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland, and Fr. Ciszek’s church was forced to quarter soldiers. He was unfamiliar with such insufferable behavior because, as an American, he would have understood that under the Declaration of Independence, one of the grievances against King George III was that he forced the colonists to quarter his soldiers. The Nazis followed by the Soviet invaders were both guilty of this desecration. Shortly before Fr, Ciszek left for his mission work in the Urals, he gave the communist soldiers a severe scolding–“They were standing there laughing, caps on their heads and devilment in their eyes. I got mad. In my anger, I launched into a sermon on the classic text ‘The fool hath said in his heart there is no God.’ It was probably the most spontaneous sermon I ever preached; every word came right from the heart and flew at them…They started to go, then stood there, too proud to retreat but ashamed to react, until I had finished. It was a personal triumph of sorts for me, but it was bound to be costly, and even then I knew it.”
Clandestinely, Fr. Ciszek and his friend, Fr. Nestrov, provided spiritual care for their flock. After his arrest as a “Vatican spy,” Fr. Ciszek endured the Lubianka prison where a drugged confession was used to convict him. Ultimately, he was transferred to a brutal prison labor camp in Siberia. He continued his faithfulness to God in hearing confessions, saying mass when he could get bread and wine (made from smuggled raisins), and, in exchange, his companions looked out for him in return.
Communism steals everything that is good and beautiful. Its snatches personhood and humanity from its victims. In their wisdom, the Founding Fathers spared the American people the hardships and hunger of communism by understanding that our freedom of liberty is God-given to the people. It is not within the power of government to take away these inalienable rights. Yet why is it that communist governments feel entitled to do this very thing which our founding document prohibits? It is the simply the quest for power and control. Communist governments do not acknowledge God’s authority. When God is taken way, He must be replaced with something. The state becomes god. George Orwell brilliantly encapsulated communism in Animal Farm when he wrote, “All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.”
If Fr. Ciszek had chosen to focus his ministry in America, his life would have been very different. He would have been able to baptize children, witness marriages, anoint the sick, hear confessions, offer Mass, and preach, unhindered, in public and without fear of any sort of imprisonment or forced labor detail. Instead, he followed God’s call to ministry behind the iron curtain to give hope to the despairing people with the most powerful remedy for those in the midst of despair—God’s grace. Love is stronger than hate; and those who love God find a deep understanding and consolation in the hope that God will never abandon them. Fr. Ciszek made that a reality by sacrificing the freedom he knew under the Declaration of Independence for those in danger of losing hope. A people of faith are harder to control and that was why Fr. Ciszek’s vocation was so dangerous to the godless, communist state.
Mary Jo Walsh, a 10th-grade homeschool student, authored this article as part of VOC’s Student Essay Contest.
