Oasis of the Living Church

At the end of the 1960s an increasing number of Oasis members asked for continuing spiritual instruction between the summer retreats. In 1969 the first “liturgical communities” of Oasis members were organised in the parishes. These groups met once a week for “Gospel-based renewal of life” — to pray and reflect on their spiritual life and become involved in liturgical renewal within the parishes. From these tiny but dynamic groups the con­cept of the Living Church emerged — a church which expresses its vitality through communities of believers building their new fives together. This concept of the Living Church became fundamental to the whole movement.

During the 1970s local parish communities were penetrated by Oasis groups, creating the Living Church. The Oasis retreats, now called the Oasis of the Living Church, spread rapidly throughout the country. In 1972 re­treats for various groups — children, school pupils, students, young work­ers, adults, priests, seminarians and nuns — were organised, following one of three programmes not only according to age but also according to spiritual maturity. In 1973 the first Oasis for families, the so-called Home Church, was organised. As a result family communities of the Living Church were set up, based on the French Equipes de Notre Dame, and grew rapidly from 51 families in 1973 to 157 in 1976.

In 1973 a structure for the whole movement was introduced and it was decentralized. At the same time a detailed programme of spiritual formation was drawn up for the whole year, which remains in force to this day. It was divided into three periods: Oasis summer retreats, post-Oasis retreats which fell during the school year and a pre-Oasis period of preparation before the summer camps. All members met together once a year during the so-called central Oasis which takes place on the feast of Pentecost. In between the summer retreats the work is carried out in small groups meeting once a week for prayer and Bible study. Every six or seven weeks a “communal day” is organised at diocesan level.

Oasis Retreat.

The retreat lasts 15 days and usually consists of 60-80 people divided into groups of eight to ten; each group has its own group leader, someone who is often only a few years older than the rest of the group but has undergone special training. The responsibility for the entire camp lies with a priest, called the “supervisor”.

Living conditions are spartan; participants lodge with the local farmers, often sleeping in bams. Shopping and preparing meals has to be done by each group on a daily rota system.

The retreat has three aims: to bring the Word of God to the participants; to teach them to pray better and to bear witness to Christ in everyday life. Though slightly dif­ferent in detail, the programme always fol­lows one pattern. Each of the 15 days begins with common prayer, as early as 7 o’clock, followed by a Mass. The sermon corresponds to one of 15 mysteries of the Rosary, to which the whole day is dedicated. After the Mass and a meagre breakfast there is an hour of group work “sharing the Gospel”. Extracts from the Bible are read and discussed under the supervision of the group leader. Emphasis is put on the relevance of Christ’s teaching to the everyday life of Oasis members. Then a break for lunch and a free period which allows for personal prayer, meditation, reading, etc. The groups meet again in the early afternoon for “a walk with open eyes” through the sur­rounding countryside. The idea of the walk is to intensify awareness of the beauty and per­fection of nature and point to the Creator of all things -God, while contrasting this with the abuses of God’s gifts by man.

In the late afternoon all groups meet together for “Bible school” — a theological lecture delivered by the priest. The day ends with a bonfire and then evening prayer at about 10 p.m.

There are three exceptions to this pattern. On the fourth day, the offertory day at the camp, a liturgy is held for the renewal of bap­tismal vows. By the simple gesture of lighting a small candle from a huge common candle the participants pledge themselves to follow the Light — Christ.

On the ninth day the Way of the Cross is acted out. A huge cross, corresponding to the original size, is carried in turn by the partici­pants. At the 12th station a Mass is celebrated at a makeshift altar. Whenever possible a hill is chosen for the Way of the Cross to add to the element of realism.

The 13^th day is “Pentecost Day”, also called Community Day. Several camps come together for a day, sometimes as many as a thousand people altogether. During a solemn Mass — the central point of the day — rep­resentatives from all camps share their spiritual experiences.

On the last evening before departure instead of the usual simple evening meal there is an agape banquet, a traditional Christian supper, lavish by Oasis standards, for the par­ticipants. Agape ends with an hour of witness — people pray and talk openly about the meaning and importance of die last 15 days to them. Next morning the last Mass is celebrated and all participants are “sent” out into the world to spread the good news, as the Apostles were sent by Christ.

Reprisals: The struggle for full freedom for the Church

The Oasis or Light-Life movement, whose aim was to produce mature Christians genuinely living in the spirit of the Gospel, was a sign of the vitality of the Church. It totally contradicted the official model of a Church “confined within the four walls of the sacristy” and the atheist authorities could not tolerate it. Over the years, various attempts were made to infiltrate the movement, to restrict its activities and even to destroy it totally. In the sixties, when the movement was still small in size and influence, petty harassment such as interrogation, blackmail and refusal to permit travel abroad (even to other communist-bloc countries), was directed only at the most active members. In the seventies, when the movement had grown to number thousands, systematic repression began, although by that time Oasis was under the protection of the Polish hierarchy, being described offi­cially as “a part of the church’s pastoral mission”, and a special agreement on Oasis retreats had been signed by the Church and State authorities. The Oasis movement had also developed a special relationship with the bishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who since 1970 had regularly participated in the summer retreats; the last took place on 3 July 1978, a few days before the Cardinal’s departure for Rome, for the conclave during which he was elected Pope. Cardinal Wojtyfa promoted the Oasis movement not only within the Episcopate (in December 1976 he organised the official presenta­tion of the movement before the Episcopal Commission for the Lay Aposto- late, of which he was the head) but also among the diocesan believers.

Despite such protection, harassment of Fr Blachnicki and his close asso­ciates increased. The Oasis house in Kroscienko was heavily taxed, and attempts were made to install bugging devices in it, as well as a compulsory “lodger”. Oasis activists were continuously held for questioning without an arrest warrant. In the severe winter of 1977 Fr Blachnicki was suddenly for­bidden to buy any coal for the house in Kroscienko. The main efforts of the authorities, however, were concentrated upon hampering Oasis retreats. Administrative pressure, aimed both at the participants and the people giving them accommodation, increased steadily, reaching its height in the summer of 1977. By a special decree, the head of the local administration in Nowy S§cz, where two-thirds of retreats took place, formed a “unit for the liquidation of Oasis retreats”. The unit was to treat Oasis retreats as “illegal camps”, usually on the ground of breaking sanitary regulations. This unit, its actions enforced by members of the security forces, harassed Oasis members and local peasants, threatening them with heavy fines. In a number of cases the fines were actually imposed. The Polish Episcopate reacted sharply and sent a letter of protest to the Ministry for Religious Affairs. In the parishes where the retreats were held, letters from local bishops were read out assur­ing the peasants of the Church’s financial assistance whenever necessary and encouraging them to continue taking in Oasis lodgers. Since 1978 direct harassment of Oasis retreats such as an unexplained fire which broke out during the 1979 retreat in Stasinowka has continued. The state authorities have pursued a policy intended to discredit the movement in the eyes of the Polish Episcopate and cut it off from Pope John Paul n. Anonymous memoranda and appeals alleging “serious doctrinal deviations” in the move­ment have been circulating among the Polish hierarchy and clergy. People posing as Oasis members have also appeared; they are openly critical of the Polish hierarchy and of all traditional methods of pastoral work, “popular religiosity” in particular. During the Pope’s visit to Poland in June 1979 ev­erything was done to prevent a mass meeting between the Pope and the Oasis movement, and even a token meeting with 3,000 Oasis members during the Pontifical mass in Nowy Targ took place with difficulty. Since 1979, when the first Oasis retreats “Ecclesia mater — Mater ecclesia” took place in Rome at the invitation of John Paul II, many Oasis members have been refused passports to travel to Rome.

During its struggle for survival in the 1970s, the Oasis movement worked out a new theology of liberation. Its essence lies in the free acceptance of truth and faithful witness to it in personal life. In order to gain liberation through the truth people must overcome fear. Fear can be totally overcome only through faith in Christ and the Cross — a symbol of acceptance of suf­fering and sacrifice, even of one’s life, in defence of the truth. This theology of liberation was first outlined in 1979 in the programme of the “Crusade for the liberation of man” — in origin a campaign against alcoholism—buf was developed fully over the next two years. It was influenced both by the political situation in Poland and the teaching of Pope John Paul II, especially his two Encyclicals Redemptor Hominis and Dives in Misericordia, which emphasise the liberation of man through truth in Christ. In March 1980, at the national congress for the leaders of the Oasis movement, 460 delegates issued a declaration on the movement’s involvement in combatting the nation’s problems. It rejected any “escapist tendencies” — temptations to withdraw from an unpalatable life into “elitist” communities, or a kind of spiritual oasis, which would offer comradeship and friendship based on the Gospel instead of grappling with the real problems of the day. The docu­ment stressed that true Christians must participate fully in the Church and the community, serving as a source of regeneration and joining in the efforts of other opposition groups engaged in the struggle for truth and justice. The following year this programme of liberation through truth and love was re­adopted by the sixth national congress and the Oasis movement officially declared itself part of a worldwide “non-violent” movement, which would undertake a campaign to liberate people from any form of enslavement in the manner revealed by Christ in his Gospel. Since the enslavement of man in a totalitarian state is based on manipulation by means of fear and the lies of official propaganda, the theology of liberation through truth and love has acquired a clearly political dimension. .Threats have been made that unless the Oasis movement restricts itself to religious activities its future existence will be put in jeopardy.

Since the 1980 Declaration the movement has become an especial object of interest for the Ministry of Religious Affairs. Special memoranda on the movement sent to the Polish hierarchy accused the Light-Life movement of taking part in political activities and allying itself with the political opposi­tion. The movement chose, however, to follow its principles, obeying only the demands of the Gospel and uninfluenced by any diplomatic considera­tions. In 1981 it decided to promote its concept of liberation among mem­bers of the unofficial trade union Solidarity through retreats and literature.

In November 1981 a full programme for the “Independent Christian Service — Truth and Liberation” was formulated by the leaders of the Light-Life movement and presented to a group of Solidarity activists in Lublin. The programme was later presented to Solidarity members in other towns: Krakow, Wroclaw, Poznan, Gdansk and Warsaw. Fifteen hundred copies of the bulletin, “Truth and Liberation” were distributed. In addition, on 28 November 1981, during the sit-in strike at the Catholic University of Lublin, the first committee of the “Independent Christian Service — Truth and Liberation” was created. Since the imposition of martial law in December 1981 the Oasis Movement’s founder, Fr Blachnicki, has been living in the West, where he has created the “Christian Service to Aid Poland — Truth and Liberation”.

Despite martial law, the Oasis movement in Poland has not ceased to promote its programme of liberation, believing that it represents the only possible way of working for true freedom in Poland.

The Light-Life Movement

By 1975 the idea of the Living Church had begun to influence rank-and-file Catholics as well as the clergy and hierarchy. Between 1974 and 1976 the number of members trebled from seven to twenty thousand while the whole movement went through a period of intensive development. In 1975 Pope Paul VI announced his programme of evangelisation in the modem world, arguing that if the Church is to be constantly renewed, evangelisation must continue within the Church. New men must be found to form the new society of the future. These words were taken as a directive by the leaders of the Living Church movement, who decided to make evangelisation one of their main aims.

In March 1976 during the first congress of Oasis leaders the movement adopted a new name, Light-Life, and formulated a new aim: all members of the movement, regardless of their age and status in the Church, should strive towards Christian maturity not only through studying God’s word, the liturgy and prayer but also through witness and active service. The next summer the first Oasis for evangelisation took place and the movement embarked on a programme of renewal of the Polish Church. A new type of instruction was introduced— “deutero-katechumenat” (second catechesis) which involved educating baptised Christians to confirm their absolute wil­lingness to bear witness to Christ and accept all the consequences of their faith. The second catechesis was designed as a three-year programme, involving three stages of Christian maturity — meeting Christ, renewal of baptismal vows and witnessing to Christ in the community. This was to be carried out during summer retreats and dining the post-Oasis period within the parish communities.