name Hlond as Venerable in a letter sent to Cardinal Kurt Koch (the letter was also sent to the CCS and to Cardinal Pietro Parolin). The AJC noted that Hlond was anti-Semitic in his writings. The AJC's letter further argued that, after the 1946 pogrom, Hlond called the Jewish victims communists and said they had themselves to blame. Removal of ethnic German bishops from Recovered Territories After 1945, Hlond has been known to force ethnic Germans to resign their church posts in favor of Poles, thereby supporting the Polish integration of formerly eastern German territories that had been given to Poland by the Allies as compensation for territory taken by the Soviet Union. Maximilian Kaller was one of the bishops who was removed from his diocese and deported to West Germany. Kaller is now in process of beatification. Another bishop forced out was Carl Maria Splett, Bishop of Danzig. Cause for beatification The process of beatification commenced in 1992 and he was granted the title of Servant of God. Professor Franz Scholz, a German theologian, as well as many others have expressed their opposition to the proposed beatification of Cardinal Hlond. Scholz opposes his actions against post-war German expellees and civilians from territories ceded by Allies to the Polish Republic. Documentation (a Positio) was submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (CCS) in 2008 and on 9 March 2017 a group of nine theologians approved naming Hlond "Venerable" with 8 votes in favor and 1 abstention. The members of the CCS approved the cause on 15 May 2018 and Pope Francis confirmed Hlond's heroic virtue allowing Hlond to be named as Venerable on 19 May. The current postulator for this cause is the Salesian priest Pierluigi Cameroni. Hierarchical offices References External links Martin Rudner report of letter by Polish Primate Cardinal August Hlond's Central Eastern Review:, Jedwabne for Hlond's anti-Jewish statement and Minorities in Poland Virtual tour Gniezno Cathedral List of Primates of Poland 1881 births 1948 deaths 20th-century venerated Christians 20th-century Polish cardinals Archbishops of Gniezno Archbishops of Warsaw Bishops of Poznań Bishops of Warmia Burials at St. John's Archcathedral, Warsaw People from Mysłowice People from the Province of Silesia Polish anti-communists Polish Servants of God Pope Pius XII and World War II Salesians of Don Bosco Salesian bishops Salesian cardinals Society of Christ Fathers Venerated Catholics by Pope Francis Antisemitism in Poland Recipients of the Order