Communist Poland. All social and charitable organizations affiliated with the church were made illegal ('Caritas' was taken over by the government in 1950), Catholic schools were closed, crosses were removed from classrooms and hospitals, and a terror campaign was enacted against parishes and monasteries; clergy began to be arrested and put on trial (this included the notable arrest of a group of Jesuits headed by Father Tomasz Rostworowski). Many bishops were arrested or removed from their positions, with government approved administrators then taking over the dioceses; in some cases the government sent people loyal to it to "assist" the bishop in running his diocese. About 900 priests were imprisoned. Nine priests were sentenced to death in 1949; in 1950 the Bonifratres Order and the Catholic charity Caritas were put on trial (the latter trial led to the government seizure in the same year). When the Vatican published its order excommunicating Catholics who actively supported communism in July 1949, the government called it an act of interference in Polish internal affairs and that clergy found trying to enforce the order (e.g. denying communion to excommunicated persons) would be punished by Polish law. The new law passed for this purpose in 1949 guaranteed the right of antireligious propaganda and also declared a penalty ranging from three years imprisonment to death, for those who abused the right of freedom of religious for 'purposes hostile to the system of the People's Republic'. The already stressed relations between the Vatican and the Polish government deteriorated after that point, and the Polish government began to more actively strike the church; members of religious orders were required to register and give accounts of their activities as well as assets, and Catholic publications were more greatly suppressed. The Minister of Justice commenting on the new legislation claimed he resented, the negative attitude of the hierarchy towards the People's Democracy, who during the five years of the existence of the regime, had shown not a single sign of appreciation of the achievements of the regime.... (the Church) had declined to combat capitalism, and had endeavored to undermine the enthusiasm for socialism. Salesian schools and orphanages were closed. All Church private schools were closed by 1950; this was accomplished by the authorities simply refusing to grant work permits to the Catholic schools that applied for them (as religious instruction was still officially permitted, these means were instead used to eliminate