View source for Walter Ciszek

{{Short description|Polish-American Jesuit priest and missionary in the Soviet Union (1904–1984)}}

{{Infobox saint
|honorific_prefix=[[Servant of God]] 
|name=Walter Ciszek
|honorific_suffix=[[Jesuits|SJ]]
|birth_date= November 4, 1904
|birth_place= [[Shenandoah, Pennsylvania]], U.S.
|birth_name = Walter Joseph Ciszek
|death_date= {{death date and age|1984|12|8|1904|11|4}}
|image=
|imagesize=200px
|caption=
|death_place=[[The Bronx|Bronx]], New York, U.S.
}}

'''Walter Joseph Ciszek''', [[Jesuits|S.J.]] (November 4, 1904 &ndash; December 8, 1984) was a Polish-American [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] priest of the [[Russian Greek Catholic Church]] who [[Clandestine operation|clandestinely]] conducted [[Christian mission|missionary]] work in the [[Soviet Union]] between 1939 and 1963.

Fifteen of these years were spent in [[incarceration|confinement]] and [[hard labor]] in the [[Gulag]], plus five preceding them<ref name="ciszek" /> in [[Moscow]]'s infamous [[Lubyanka Building|Lubyanka prison]]. He was released and returned to the [[United States]] in 1963, after which he wrote two books, ''He Leadeth Me'' and the memoir ''[[With God in Russia]]'', and served as a spiritual director.

Since 1990, Ciszek's life has been under consideration by the [[Catholic Church]] for [[beatification]]. {{As of|2023}} his title is [[Servant of God]].

==Early life and studies==
Ciszek was born on November 4, 1904, in the mining town of [[Shenandoah, Pennsylvania]], to Polish immigrants Mary (Mika) and Martin Ciszek, who had emigrated to the US in the 1890s from [[Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria|Galicia]] in [[Austria-Hungary]].<ref name="league" /> A former [[street gang]] member, he shocked his family by deciding to become a priest. Ciszek entered the Jesuit [[novitiate]] in [[Hyde Park, New York]] in 1928. The following year, he volunteered to serve as a missionary to Russia, where the [[Bolshevik Revolution]] had taken place 12 years before. Christians were being openly [[Persecution of Christians in the Soviet Union|persecuted]] there, and few believers had access to a [[priest]]. [[Pope Pius XI]] made an appeal to priests from around the world to go to Russia as missionaries.<ref name="league">{{Cite web |title=About Father Ciszek |url=http://www.ciszek.org/About_Ciszek.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809113424/http://www.ciszek.org/About_Ciszek.html |archive-date=2022-08-09 |website=The Father Walter Ciszek Prayer League}}</ref>

In 1934, Ciszek was sent to [[Rome]] to study [[theology]], [[Russian language|Russian]], the [[history of Russia]] and [[Eastern Catholicism|liturgy]] at the Pontifical Russian College (or '[[Russicum]]'),<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Guzik|date=2019|title=Rev. Walter J. Ciszek, SJ: An Icon of the Catholic Russian Mission|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/polishreview.64.4.0028|journal=The Polish Review|volume=64|issue=4|pages=28–43|doi=10.5406/polishreview.64.4.0028|jstor=10.5406/polishreview.64.4.0028 |s2cid=211646777 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> a [[Jesuit]]-run [[seminary]] established to train priests of the [[Russian Greek Catholic Church]] for missionary work in the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Russian diaspora]]. 

His fellow Russicum seminarians included Alexander Kurtna, a convert from [[Eastern Orthodoxy in Estonia|Estonian Orthodoxy]] whom Ciszek referred to in his memoirs only by the codename "Misha". Following his expulsion by the Russicum's rector in 1940, Kurtna worked, with only one interruption between 1940 and 1944, as a translator for the Vatican's [[Congregation for the Eastern Churches]]. At the same time, he [[espionage|spied]] for the Soviet [[NKVD]], with devastating results for Ciszek and many other underground priests and faithful.{{vague|date=March 2024|reason=What were the effects on Ciszek and the others?}} Kurtna, who was loyal to the USSR, started spying for [[Nazi Germany]] in 1943 because his [[Agent handling|handler]] and [[Obersturmbannführer]] of the [[SS]], [[Herbert Kappler]], threatened to send him and his wife to a [[Nazi concentration camps|concentration camp]]. Kurtna however betrayed Kappler by stealing [[codebooks]] from his office and passing them to the Soviets. Kurtna and Ciszek met one another again in 1948 as fellow [[political prisoner]]s in [[Norillag]].<ref>David Alvarez and Robert A. Graham, S.J. (1997), ''Nothing Sacred: Nazi Espionage Against the Vatican'', Frank Cass, London. Pages 114-139.</ref><ref> David Alvarez (2002), ''Spies in the Vatican: Espionage and Intrigue from Napoleon to the Holocaust'', [[University Press of Kansas]]. Pages 222-236, 316-318.</ref>

In 1937, Ciszek was ordained a priest in the [[Byzantine Rite]] in Rome and took the name Vladimir.<ref>Members of the Byzantine Rite [[Russian Catholic Church]], like members of other [[Eastern Catholic Churches]], are in [[full communion]] with the [[Roman Catholic Church]] but differ in rites, customs and canon law from the western, or Latin Rite Catholic Church. The majority of Catholics in Russia have always been members of the Latin Rite church, however.</ref>

In 1938, Ciszek was sent to the Jesuit mission in Albertyn in eastern [[Poland]].<ref name="league" /> With the outbreak of [[World War II]] in 1939, the Soviet Union occupied eastern Poland and forced him to close his mission. Arriving in [[Lviv]], he realized that it would be easy for a priest to enter the Soviet Union amid the streams of exiles going east. After securing the permission of [[Metropolitan bishop|Metropolitan]] [[Andrei Sheptytsky]], he crossed the border in 1940 under the assumed identity of ''Władymyr Łypynski''. With two of his fellow Jesuits, he traveled {{convert|2400|km}} by train to the logging town of [[Chusovoy]], in the [[Ural Mountains]]. For one year, he worked as an unskilled [[Lumberjack|logger]] while discreetly performing religious ministry.<ref name=jescon/>

==Captivity in the Soviet Union==
{{Modern persecutions of the Catholic Church}}
Ciszek was arrested in 1941 under false accusations of [[espionage]] for Nazi Germany and the [[Holy See|Vatican]]. To his shock, the NKVD (the USSR's [[secret police]]) already knew his real name and that he was an American citizen and a Catholic priest. He was then sent to [[Lubyanka prison]] in Moscow, the NKVD's national headquarters. He spent five years there,<ref name=Muntone>[https://ssvmusa.org/index.php/catholic-culture/fr-walter-ciszek/ Muntone, Anthony D., "Servant of God Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ (1904-1984)", SSVM]</ref> most of them in [[solitary confinement]]. In 1942, he signed a [[Confession (law)|confession]] of espionage under severe torture and was [[Sentence (law)|sentenced]] to 15 years of hard labor in the [[Gulag]].

Ciszek was to remain in Lubyanka for four more years. In 1946, he was sent by train to [[Krasnoyarsk]] then 20 days by boat north on the [[Yenisey|Yenisei River]] until reaching 300{{nbsp}}km above the [[Arctic Circle]] at the city of [[Norilsk]], the center of the [[labor camp]] complex known as Norillag. There, Ciszek was forced to load coal onto [[freighter vessel]]s and later transferred to working in [[coal mine]]s located in the [[permafrost]]. A year later, he was sent to work on the construction of a [[nickel]], [[copper]], [[cobalt]], [[platinum]], and [[palladium]] ore [[refinery]]. From 1953 to 1955, he worked in mines. His memoirs provide a vivid description of the [[Norilsk uprising]], which started at [[Gorlag]] spread through Norillag in the aftermath of [[Joseph Stalin]]'s death.

Throughout his lengthy imprisonment, Ciszek continued to pray, to offer both the [[Tridentine Mass]] and the Byzantine Rite [[Divine Liturgy]], to hear [[Confession (religion)|confession]]s, conduct [[Retreat (spiritual)|retreat]]s and perform secret and illegal parish ministry. Until he was allowed to write to the US in 1955, he was presumed dead by both his family and the [[Society of Jesus]].

By April 22, 1955, Ciszek's sentence was complete, and he was released with the restriction to live only in the city of Norilsk. At this time, he was able to write to his sisters in the US.

After setting up a [[Parish (Catholic Church)|Catholic parish]] in Norilsk, Ciszek was ordered by the [[KGB]] in 1958 to move to Krasnoyarsk, where he secretly established several nearby mission parishes. After the KGB learned of this, he was forcibly transferred to [[Abakan]], {{convert|160|km}} to the south, where he worked as an automobile mechanic for four more years. In 1963, he received a letter from his sisters in the US. Several months later, the Soviet Union decided to return him (and American student [[Marvin Makinen]]) to the US in exchange for two Soviet agents.<ref name=Muntone/> Ciszek was not aware that two [[US President]]s, [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] and [[John F. Kennedy]], had both been demanding his repatriation since the arrival of his first letter to his sisters in 1955. He remained oblivious until he was flown to Moscow and delivered to a [[US State Department]] official, who told him that he was still an American citizen.

==Release and later life==
[[Image:Walter ciszek tomb 2004.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Ciszek's grave at the Jesuit Center in [[Wernersville, Pennsylvania]]]]
{{Jesuit}}
After nearly 23 years of imprisonment, Ciszek was released with American student Marvin Makinen on October 12, 1963. In exchange, the Soviets received [[GRU (Soviet Union)|GRU]] agents Ivan Dmitrievich Egorov and his wife Alexandra Egorova, whom the [[FBI]] had arrested for espionage in July 1963.

In 1965, Ciszek began working and lecturing at the John XXIII Center at [[Fordham University]] (now the Center for Eastern Christian Studies at the [[University of Scranton]] in [[Scranton, Pennsylvania]]), counseling and offering spiritual direction to those who visited him.<ref name=Muntone/>

On December 8, 1984, Ciszek died after many years of declining health and was [[burial|buried]] at the Jesuit Cemetery in [[Wernersville, Pennsylvania]].

==Legacy==
In 1985, a [[Carmelite nun]], Marija, who was the [[mother superior]] of a [[Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church|Ruthenian Rite]] Carmelite [[nunnery]] which Ciszek helped found, and which had been under his spiritual direction, began to petition for his formal [[canonization]]. In 1990, Bishop [[Michael Joseph Dudick]] of the [[Ruthenian Catholic Eparchy of Passaic]], [[New Jersey]], opened an official diocesan process of investigation for official recognition on the road to [[beatification]]. Ciszek’s canonization cause was formally opened in March 2012.<ref name=jescon>[https://www.jesuits.org/stories/jesuit-father-walter-ciszek-a-life-in-service/ "Jesuit Father Walter Ciszek: A Life in Service", Jesuit Conference of Canada and the U.S.]</ref> It is currently being handled by the [[diocese]] of [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]].

The ''Walter Ciszek Prayer Circle'' continues to publicize and act to further his cause for beatification.<ref name="Constantin">Constantin Simon S.J. (2009), ''Pro Russia: The Russicum and Catholic Work for Russia'', [[Pontifical Oriental Institute|Orientalium]]. Page 481.</ref>

Nine recordings of interviews conducted with Ciszek ({{circa|1964}}) are archived at [[Georgetown University]].

According to Constantin Simon, S.J., ''With God in Russia'', Ciszek's memoir of his decades in the USSR, went through multiple editions in various languages, including [[French language|French]], [[German language|German]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[Italian language|Italian]], [[Dutch language|Dutch]], [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Polish language|Polish]], and [[Slovak language|Slovak]]. Although it remains popular among Catholics in [[North America]], the memoir has not gained the same popularity in Europe, where Ciszek has been eclipsed by fellow Russicum graduate and Gulag survivor [[Pietro Leoni]].<ref name="Constantin" />

Ciszek Hall at Fordham University in [[New York City]] is named after him. It currently houses Jesuit scholastics in the first stage of formal study for the priesthood.<ref name=jescon/> Additionally, a small room has been set aside in honor of Ciszek. It contains the (Latin) altar, sacred vessels, candlesticks, and [[crucifix]] he used, as well as a copy of his [[final vows]] and a copy of a letter to a friend containing spiritual advice. 

There is also a Ciszek Hall at the University of Scranton. Shenandoah, Pennsylvania also has a school named Trinity Academy at the Father Walter J. Ciszek Education Center. [[Marquette University]]'s Walter Ciszek Collection is named for him.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.marquette.edu/library/about/ciszek.php|title=Ciszek Collection // Raynor Memorial Libraries // Marquette University}}</ref> Additionally, the university has sponsored an annual Ciszek Lecture since 2002.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.marquette.edu/news-center/2019/marquette-to-host-microsoft-chief-technology-officer-for-ciszek-lecture.php|title=Marquette to host Microsoft chief technology officer for Ciszek lecture // News Center // Marquette University}}</ref>

==Quotes==
*"The power of prayer reaches beyond all efforts of man seeking to find meaning in life. This power is available to all; it can transform man's weaknesses, limitations, and his sufferings."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://imagesofheaven.org/WalterCiszek.html |title=Walter Ciszek, SJ Tribute by Images of Heaven<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2005-11-07 |archive-date=2002-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020210124120/http://imagesofheaven.org/WalterCiszek.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*"Across that threshold I had been afraid to cross, things suddenly seemed so very simple. There was but a single vision, God, who was all in all; there was, but one will that directed all things, God's will. I had only to see it, to discern it in every circumstance in which I found myself, and let myself be ruled by it. God is in all things, sustains all things, directs all things. To discern this in every situation and circumstance, to see His will in all things, was to accept each circumstance and situation and let oneself be borne along in perfect confidence and trust. Nothing could separate me from Him because He was in all things. No danger could threaten me, no fear could shake me, except the fear of losing sight of Him. The future, hidden as it was, was hidden in His will and therefore acceptable to me no matter what it might bring. The past, with all its failures, was not forgotten; it remained to remind me of the weakness of human nature and the folly of putting any faith in self. But it no longer depressed me. I looked no longer to self to guide me, relied on it no longer in any way, so it could not again fail me. By renouncing, finally and completely, all control of my life and future destiny, I was relieved as a consequence of all responsibility. I was freed thereby from anxiety and worry, from every tension, and could float serenely upon the tide of God's sustaining providence in perfect peace of soul."<ref name="ciszek">{{cite book|last=Ciszek|first=Walter J.|title=He Leadeth Me|year=1973|publisher=Doubleday & Company, Inc.|location=Garden City, New York|isbn=0-89870-546-0|pages=38, 79–80|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VmdVjLpJ5HUC&q=across+that+threshold+I+had+been+afraid+to+cross&pg=PA79}}</ref>
*"His will for us was in the twenty-four hours of each day: the people, the places, the circumstances He set before us in that time. Those were the things God knew were important to Him and to us at that moment, and those were the things upon which He wanted us to act."<ref name="ciszek" />

==Books==
* ''With God in Russia'', (with Daniel L. Flaherty, S.J.), a memoir (New York: [[McGraw-Hill]], 1964).
* ''He Leadeth Me'', (with Daniel L. Flaherty, S.J.), a memoir (New York: [[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]], 1973).
* ''With God in America'' (published posthumously), a memoir with primary sources (Chicago: [[Loyola Press]], 2016).

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
{{category commons}}
*[https://findingaids.library.georgetown.edu/repositories/15/resources/10092 Details of Ciszek materials] at Georgetown University library Special Collections
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080308002535/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873742,00.html Time Magazine 1963 story on the release of Walter Ciszek]
*[http://www.catechismclass.com/shop/lessons_detail.php?id=100 Summary of the Writings of Walter Ciszek]

{{Persecution of Christians|state=collapsed}}

{{Canonization}}
{{Subject bar |portal1= Biography |portal2= Catholicism |portal3= United States |portal4= Saints}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ciszek, Walter}}
[[Category:1904 births]]
[[Category:1984 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American Jesuits]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Eastern Catholic clergy]]
[[Category:20th-century venerated Christians]]
[[Category:American Eastern Catholics]]
[[Category:American expatriates in Russia]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American people imprisoned in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:American people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:American Servants of God]]
[[Category:Anti-Catholicism in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Anti-Christian sentiment in Russia]]
[[Category:Catholics from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Eastern Catholic Servants of God]]
[[Category:Eastern Catholic writers]]
[[Category:Foreign Gulag detainees]]
[[Category:Jesuit Servants of God]]
[[Category:Memoirists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Participants in the Norilsk uprising]]
[[Category:People from Shenandoah, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Persecution by atheist states]]
[[Category:Polish Eastern Catholics]]
[[Category:Victims of anti-Catholic violence]]