Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski

Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski is a Polish-Armenian public and religious figure.

He was a member of student movements in Krakow in the late 1970s and a Solidarity priest in Krakow's Nowa Huta district in the 1980s. Isakowicz-Zaleski was harassed by the communist state for his activities.

Father Tadeusz Isakowicz-Zaleski in 2006 sparked a row on vetting in the Catholic Church.

The church played a significant role in battling communism and preserving traditional and national values both during the partitions of Poland and in the communist era, had so far been untouchable when it came to vetting and disclosing former collaborators with the secret police, the SB.

He initiated the debate on the church's past in February 2006 when he received his SB file from the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) and revealed the names of some of those who had informed on him.

Since then, Isakowicz-Zaleski had been researching the church's role in communism and tried to get church officials to help him take a stand on the issue of priests collaborating with the SB.

Receiving no answer from the church, he decided to reveal the results of his research independently. However, in June 2006 the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Stanis³aw Dziwisz forbade him to go public, and instead established the church's own commission to deal with the issue.

Sources

• IN THE SPOTLIGHT: TADEUSZ ISAKOWICZ-ZALESKI, By Micha³Pakulniewicz. Warsaw Business Journal , Poland, June 5, 2006