ONE of the Soviet bloc's most colourful anti-communist clerics, Ignacy Tokarczuk, has died at the age of 94.

The retired Archbishop became a folk hero for many after building secret churches in Poland in the 1960s and 1970s in defiance of the communist authorities.

Episcopate chairman Archbishop Jozef Michalik said on the website of the Przemysl Archdiocese: "He will be remembered for his uncompromising stance in defence of the institution of the Catholic Church despite frequent harassment by the security service."