The Pontifical Society and the Pontifical Commission For Russia

Bishop Michel d'Herbigny SJ, the Holy See's Trojan Horse into Russia

In 1925 Pope Pius XI created the Pontifical Commission Pro Russia, which was responsible for all matters concerning Catholics of all rites inside the Soviet Union and Russians in the Diaspora. Refounded the following year, the Pontifical Society of St. John Chrysostom attempted to support some of the Commission's initiatives.

The Commission's secretary and later president, Michel d'Herbigny, sponsored a Russian-language religious journal Bogovjest. The section of the Pro Russia Commission's papers found in the Archives of the Oriental Congregation reveal a brief correspondence between the heads of the two Pontifical entities. On 5 June 1931, the Society's Chairman, Monsignor Barton, sent a letter to Bishop d'Herbigny, together with an donation of £40, in order to ensure a more frequent publication of the Russian journal. A bulletin dated April 1931 commemorating the Society's fifth anniversary was also enclosed. D'Herbigny sent a letter of thanks to Monsignor Barton the following 12 June.

Future research could reveal if the Society or its members had any other contact with the Pontifical Commission For Russia. This small detail is part of a larger direction of historical analysis of the Pro Russia Commission and of leading churchmen connected with the Catholic outreach to Russia, men such as Andrei Sheptytsky, Cyrille Korolevskij, Lev Gillet, Michel d'Herbigny and Eugène Tisserant.